


A Collection of Hearts

by LanaBerry



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Thieves, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama, Falling In Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Russian Thieves, Slow Burn, Thieves Guild, more tags to come
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-05-19 09:29:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 138,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14871182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LanaBerry/pseuds/LanaBerry
Summary: Viktor is a thief steadily growing bored of his job. The thrill of stealing rare, expensive things is gone.But a new challenge rises. The Katsuki family, famously known for being normal and supposedly boring, seem to be hiding something that has been kept a secret for years. No one but the family knows what it is or where it is hidden.Finding the thrill that he thought was once lost, Viktor takes the job eagerly. But Yuuri Katsuki proves to be one of the most beautiful treasures Viktor has ever seen, and he soon finds he might have bitten off more than he can chew.





	1. Hello Beautiful

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter beta-read by the lovely whynikkywhy

It was so close to perfect. So close, but as the alarms pierced the silent night, guards rushed out into the darkness. Viktor knew he had messed up. Again. Yakov was going to be pissed.

 

He climbed the nearest tree, sat on the branches, and pulled his new treasure to his chest. Just visible in the gloom of twilight, the house lights were beginning to flicker as the house came alive. He could hear the guards’ shouts, their booming footsteps as they rushed through the mansion grounds, guns aimed and orders ready. But they wouldn’t find him.

 

As they searched, he opened the silk bag, peering into his prize. Inside was an engagement ring. Simple really, but its history was a long one, plagued with blood and shining with the stories of a dozen lives. A family heirloom, passed down through the family that owned the mansion in front of him. Its metal was delicately woven into vines, the stone made from a diamond picked from a volcano. It wasn’t used as an engagement ring anymore; instead, it was displayed as some museum artefact. In Viktor’s opinion, the family didn’t care for it as much as he could.

 

He’d almost made it out without alerting them to his presence too. But he got too cocky and saw a piece on their walls that reminded him of Georgi. His fellow thief loved beautiful artwork from the renaissance period, and Viktor had seen one depicting the beautiful angels of heaven, painted to perfection. In his hesitation, he’d been spotted by the family butler who then raised the alarm.

 

He didn’t make it out with the painting, but they noticed the missing ring.

 

He sighed as he held it up, watching as it caught the moonlight. Even hundreds of years old and it still sparkled like new, despite the old scrapes in the metal, the slight hints of rust underneath the scratched stone.

 

He waited for the guards to scatter before he decided it was best to leave.

 

***

 

“I don’t see what’s so interesting about it,” was the first thing Yurio commented on the ring.

 

Viktor rolled his eyes. “Just because it’s not fashion doesn’t mean it’s any less valuable.” He took it back from the teen. Georgi might appreciate it, maybe Mila too. Yakov definitely would, up until he heard Viktor hadn’t left without notice.

 

Their base was a small one, a hideout hidden at the top of a floral shop owned by cover named Christophe Giacometti. A floral shop down below, an accounting firm above by the name of ‘Feltsman Accounting’. Both shops were a go-between for customers who wanted to buy stolen goods. It was a good business – though business seemed to be slow for the moment.

 

No wonder Yurio was getting bored. He sat on their customer sofa, phone almost attached to his face. “Get the right pieces,” he grumbled, never glancing at Viktor, “and clothes will always sell for more. Have you seen how much Gucci or Chanel go for? No, because you’re too caught up stealing little things.”

 

Viktor popped the ring back into the silk bag. “Where are the others, anyway?”

 

“Yakov’s in his office. I think Georgi is with him. Mila’s out on business though.”

 

“What job has she got this time?”

 

“Dunno, but we’ll find out when it hits the news in the next few hours.”

 

“Right, so a big job.” When Yurio didn’t reply, Viktor nodded to himself. Speaking to the teen was getting harder and harder. It was almost as if he paid for each and every word he had to say. “I’ll just go in and see Yakov.”

 

“’Kay.”

 

He knocked on Yakov’s office, waiting for the gruff reply. When one finally came, he walked in. The old man was sat behind his desk, phone in hand and papers on the desk. Georgi sat on the chair before him, a small painting in his hands. He nodded in greeting.

 

Viktor clicked the door shut and took the seat beside him. “How’s it going?”

 

“Selling this piece,” Georgi replied, pointing at the one in his hands. It was a smaller painting than the man usually went for, but no less beautiful. It had an array of colours, darker hues that contrasted against the bright blue sky, with a great lake enjoyed by detailed people. Flowers were painted delicately along the sides, blooming wide.

 

“It’s lovely,” Viktor said.

 

Georgi grinned, holding the painting close to him. “Isn’t it just? It evokes such compelling emotions, almost like a nostalgic feel that is hard to reach. It calls up thoughts from corners of my mind I’ve never explored before.”

 

Viktor nodded, pretending he understood. “How much might it be going for?”

 

“Yakov’s on the phone to a seller now. It should be a few hundred thousand? I think it’s worth millions but you know what these art collectors are like.”

 

Not really. “Of course.”

 

Yakov coughed, catching their attention. He had wrinkles in more places than Viktor seemed to remember, coming on only in a few hours. The frown hadn’t been moved for so long that he suspected it was a permanent fixture of his face now.

 

“The deal has been confirmed. Four-hundred-thousand,” Yakov said.

 

Georgi seemed to deflate in his chair, running his hands down his face. “We should have placed the lowest point at a million. Do these people not understand how much this is worth?”

 

“It’s good money. That’s what we’re going for.”

 

“I could keep it for myself then.”

 

“We steal things and sell them on, Georgi. We don’t keep them.”

 

Viktor didn’t pay too much attention to their conversation. It was often how things went when Georgi stole something and they made a deal with a seller. It wasn’t enough, people didn’t understand, should keep it, sells on anyway. At this point, stealing things wasn’t for the money anymore. It was about the treasures themselves, and for the thrill of stealing. He remembered a point where he stole for the money, but that soon diminished. Now he had far more money than he knew what to do with. The only thing keeping him in the job was the thrill.

 

Finally, Yakov and Georgi were finished talking. The painting was left behind Yakov’s desk and Georgi left in a huff, clearly disappointed but unable to argue.

 

“At least you know it’ll go to a good home,” Yakov called after him. “This person seemed to understand the value of it.”

 

“If they really understood the value, he’d have paid a lot more.” Georgi closed the door behind him, a soft click despite his anger. It was always one of the things that struck Viktor odd about the man – if Yurio was angry, which he always was, doors almost came off their hinges from how hard he slammed them. But Georgi didn’t. Even angry, he treated things gently.

 

Yakov sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. “What do you have for me, Vitya?”

 

Viktor pulled the ring from its silk bag, holding it up for Yakov’s inspection. “Isn’t it lovely?”

 

The older man took it from his hold carefully. He turned it around to capture everything with his gaze and it took a few moments before he glanced up at Viktor again. “Very good. This will sell for a lot. A very rare piece.”

 

“They didn’t have it guarded very well, despite it being such an important family heirloom. I could break through the locks in five seconds. You trained me on harder ones.”

 

“Did you get out of there without any issues?”

 

Viktor hesitated, glancing to the corner of the room. He hoped his expression was straight, but he knew he couldn’t hide things from Yakov.

 

“Viktor.” There was a warning in his voice and it sent shivers down Viktor’s spine.

 

“Okay, I might have paused because there was a really beautiful painting in their foyer. I thought I’d take that too-”

 

“You were sent in for one piece, nothing else.”

 

“I know, but I thought Georgi might appreciate it. And I was seen.”

 

“By who?”

 

“The family butler, I think. He raised the alarm.” He paused, avoiding Yakov’s critical eye. “It’s always the butler, isn’t it? They do everything. They’re always the murderer, always the loyal dog, always the one that knows all the secrets, and apparently the one that catches sight of the thief.”

 

“Did he see you?”

 

“Not properly. I was wearing the hood and I was hidden in the shadows. He probably only saw my figure.”

 

Yakov grunted in response, placing the ring back into its bag.

 

Viktor had really been expecting more of an argument, perhaps even a speech about how it was bad to hesitate, go in and out without being spotted, that their whole lives revolved around being discreet. Viktor had heard it enough growing up after all, but Yakov didn’t say anything more about it. Perhaps he too thought it was only going to happen again.

 

Because Viktor was steadily losing interest in the game. He was becoming too good. If he was being honest, he knew there was someone coming even before he hesitated in the foyer. It wasn’t a challenge unless the alarm was raised. He could go in and quickly out, even make it so that the missing item wasn’t noticed as stolen for weeks, by which time he’d already sold it. But where was the challenge in that? He longed for the thrill. He longed for the days where it was fun to try and hide, to have someone come so close to catching him. He was just too good now and it was becoming routine. He didn’t want routine; he wanted unpredictable.

 

“I’ll be able to find a seller easily for this piece,” Yakov said, breaking him from his thoughts. “You’ve done well, Viktor.”

 

He always did. “What job is Mila doing?”

 

“Bank heist.”

 

Viktor groaned. Now that was some excitement. Mila would be running against time, breaking locks Viktor had never seen before, hacking into computers he barely got to touch and making away with bags of money. That was some thrill right there.

 

But their organisation was divided and the thieves were sent after items they most preferred. Money was Mila’s suit, clothing was Yurio’s, art especially from the Renaissance period was Georgi’s, and Viktor specialised in rare items. It was what he had chosen, and he had to stick with it. Money didn’t give him the same emotions as it did Mila, and rare pieces didn’t do it for Mila. They had a structure, and Yakov made sure that the structure was to be kept.

 

“That sounds fun.”

 

Yakov watched him carefully. “Jobs aren’t meant to be fun.”

 

“Exciting, then,” Viktor corrected. “That sounds exciting.”

 

Yakov sighed and flipped through some of the documents on his table. “If it’s excitement you want, I have another job for you.”

 

“Is this going to be my version of excitement, or yours?”

 

“Depends. A certain family have been keeping a very rare item a secret for years. The only reason I know about it in the first place is because the information came out accidentally. A maid spread rumours around about it.”

 

Viktor sat up a little straighter in his chair. A spark of interest did light in his chest, but he didn’t let it control him. He’d been excited about jobs before and they’d come out the same as always – no challenge, in and out without any sort of issue. He didn’t let this one overtake his rationality.

 

“What piece is it?” he asked.

 

“Honestly, I’m not certain. I’ve been chasing rumours and they’ve been difficult to track down. Some say it’s a sword, others say a book. But they all agree on one thing – the family have gone through great lengths to keep it a secret. They don’t brag about it like other families do.”

 

“No idea at all?”

  
“No. But it’s rare and rumoured to be beautiful.”

 

That was all Viktor needed to know. “Where is this place?”

 

“Katsuki residence in the North. I don’t know where in the mansion. The rumours said it was hidden in the library, but they must have moved it by now. You’ll have a challenge finding it, and we have no idea what sort of security they have.” There was a smirk on Yakov’s face, eyes sparkling when he realised he had captured Viktor’s attention.

 

Viktor memorised the words, already beginning to think up a plan in his mind. “Katsuki residence? Are they a family?”

 

“Yes. I didn’t expect such people to hold such a treasure though.” He looked down at his papers. “The family consists of four people, Toshiya Katsuki, Hiroko Katsuki, Mari Katsuki and Yuuri Katsuki. Two parents, and a daughter and son over twenty. They keep to themselves, attend parties but blend in rather than stand out, and don’t have their hands in high-profile businesses. They gained their money through inheriting it, and maintained it by working in the spa business, buying and renovating worn-down hot springs and opening them up again. So, a very easily looked over family.”

 

Uninteresting, Viktor thought. But perhaps that was what they had been planning. No one would look at a family that didn’t seem to be into anything suspicious as a family that kept a secret. Attending things to make sure they didn’t arouse suspicion, and then slipping under the radar once they were there. They were interesting in their attempt to be the opposite and they had definitely hooked his attention.

 

“Right,” Viktor said, making the list of things he would need to grab in his head. Perhaps this was the job he needed, the one he had been looking for, for years. The one he would feel challenged at, a family that held a treasure so secret that no one knew what it was or where it was, or who they really were. They were secrets Viktor couldn’t wait to unearth them all. “I’ll see what I can do.”

 

Yakov placed papers in front of him, displaying them. “These are the blueprints for the house, the details of how many guards, profiles on family members and services, and all other things you will need.”

 

Viktor took them, reading over them carefully. There wasn’t much on the profiles, not even photos. He wanted to ask, but the challenge called to him. He didn’t have to know absolutely everything. Where was the fun in that?

 

“Do I have a deadline? Or a specific night I should try this?” he asked, placing all of the papers together to explore them later.

 

“Any time you want. The family have no idea this is coming.”

 

Sounds brilliant, he thought. That meant he could start as soon as tomorrow night if he so wished. “Then if you don’t mind, I’m going to do some research.”

 

He bid Yakov goodbye and retreated to his own apartment, just a few streets away. It overlooked the city, walls made of glass for him to view. It was modern, with all of the most aesthetic furniture money could buy. But it was empty. Makkachin, his beloved dog, helped fill the space but she wasn’t good conversation. For once, Viktor wanted to come home and ask someone about their day without the answer being a bark.

 

She was sleeping in her basket when he got home. She raised her head sleepily when he entered, and he ran his hand through her fur to ease her back into her slumber. It didn’t take much convincing.

 

When he wasn’t here, Christopher, his best friend and business partner that owned the florist, came to feed her and keep her company. But it wasn’t the same. Viktor wanted more than empty hours for Makkachin – he had contemplated using her as a sniffer dog or distractions in his job, but he didn’t want to put her in harm’s way.

 

He took a tumbler of whiskey from his bar and sat on the sofa besides where Makkachin slept. Her tail wagged slightly at the sound of him close but she didn’t raise her head again.

 

He spent the remainder of the night revising the papers, committing all information to memory.

 

With each word, it began to become more exciting to Viktor. His curiosity was peaked, a wonder of what this item was that they were keeping so secret. And this family, who were they to hide such a secret for so long? What would they do if he stole it? He wanted their reactions. He wanted them to be unpredictable.

 

As the sun dawned over the rooves of the city, its rays peeking into the apartment, Viktor set the papers down. He decided he would scout out the place tonight – just a survey, to see the house, get the layout, perhaps see if he could determine if the guards had a routine he could take advantage of. He wanted to see this family for himself too.

 

He rubbed his face, feeling the exhaustion finally seeping into his bones. As a thief, he was naturally nocturnal. The shadows were a friend to him, so much so that the sun almost seemed to hurt. He stripped himself down and settled himself into bed just as Makkachin was waking. She gave one bark before she jumped onto the bed with him, catching a few more hours snuggled besides him, in the empty part of the bed that Viktor hadn’t slept in for years.

 

***

 

He woke up rejuvenated. He looked forward to tonight.

 

As the evening was settling in, workers returning home after a tiring job before a desk, Viktor opened his wardrobe and gazed at the stealth clothing. Endless rows of black – though of course, just because it was for his job, he wouldn’t have anything less than stylish. Tonight, he’d go for a turtleneck top, one that he knew complimented his muscles and figure, extending his neck until it looked delicate and contrasted with his light hair. Trousers that hugged him in all the right places. A beanie that covered the whole of the top of his head, and paint to cover the most unique features of his face.

 

He dressed himself and eyed his form in the mirror, surprised every time how the wardrobe could completely change how he looked. Yakov had said once how scary it was that he could change his looks so – the leader himself had to go through a makeup team before he looked different. Viktor would have liked that though, to be pampered by a makeup team every time he wanted to steal something – see what else they could come up with. But his situation was a good one too. If he needed to change quickly, he had the advantage.

 

He set off early. He liked to leave three hours before his plan started, just to cater to any issues. Perhaps there was something they hadn’t been able to research, a change of guard that happened in the day – he’d come across it many times. It always paid to be prepared.

 

The Katsuki estate was outside of the city, hidden in the rolling hills of the country side, beside a large forest. It wasn’t the largest estate he had ever seen, not by far, but there was something unique about it. Not the architecture, not the materials used to build it, but the atmosphere of the place. The guards spoke together, obviously working but chatting during their shifts, at ease. Workers such as maids and the stable hands were preparing to leave for the day, large smiles on their faces, leaving tired but satisfied. So many times Viktor had seen the workers being forced to work at their estates, guards standing around silently until they collapsed in exhaustion.

 

Was this family so confident that they allowed their staff to act like this? Or was it saying something about them? They weren’t high-profile, both Yakov and their reports said so.

 

Viktor hid in the treeline, watching as the workers walked along the path to get home before the light of the sun disappeared for good. They bid one another goodbye, waves high and voices cheery, and the guards swapped to the night shift.

 

Through one of the windows, Viktor could see the kitchen staff swapping over. The room was clean and perfect, as any estate should be. Through another, he saw the cleaners finishing their work in the dining hall, table cleared from the evening dinner. The grand table was long, enough to accompany twenty people, with a fresh bouquet of flowers settled in the middle, contrasting colours with the paintings on the wall.

 

Another movement caught his eye. On one of the top floors, a woman was stood. She didn’t wear worker clothing, but rather a fine shirt with plain black trousers. It wasn’t traditionally what a woman wore, especially not a woman of high standing. But Viktor couldn’t help but respect the stranger and appreciate the way she wore them. She opened the window and leaned out of it, taking a deep drag from a cigarette.

 

Viktor slipped further into the branches, holding his breath as he saw her gaze flit over to where he was. For a moment, she froze, cigarette still frozen on her lips, eyes narrowed. A heartbeat passed before she snuffed out the cigarette and dropped it down onto the floor. Viktor didn’t move forward again until he was sure she was gone.

 

Definitely not a usual family, he thought. She shouldn’t have been able to catch him unless she was looking. They were on guard.

 

Interesting.

 

Viktor was liking this job more and more.

 

As the night fell and the house settled into silence, Viktor snuck in through one of the windows. Many of the room’s lights were off, fire burning in the bottom living room and the kitchen. He could hear their chatter, a family of four and a few night staff enjoying company.

 

One particular laugh had Viktor pausing halfway up the stairs. It was full and deep. It made his heart swell, though he wasn’t sure why. He cast the thoughts away and moved in search for the library.

 

It didn’t take long to find. Old estates had their libraries in the same places for convenience and space. He opened the doors, flinching as the hinges squeaked slightly. He pushed in the screws, silencing the noise, and let himself in.

 

The library was grand and beautiful, with white shelves and a rainbow of coloured spines, a fireplace at the back wall, paintings covering the open spaces, chairs in a circle in the middle of the room. It was comfortable and clearly used often, with books still open on the table, wood in the fireplace burned.

 

He glanced around quickly, looking for anything that seemed rare and a treasure. Nothing jumped out. Though Yakov had said that it would have moved by now, but best to check.

 

He began to walk around, knocking the panels on the walls to search for some sort of hollow. Nothing. He climbed the stairs to the top level, pulling at shelves to see if any moved. But all were bolted to the walls. He pulled the books from the shelves in search of some secret button but could see nothing. He searched the carpets for hints of something underneath but not even that worked.

 

After a thorough search, he could find nothing. He suspected he might find some secret compartment, all estates had something, but there was nothing. On the surface, this family did seem to be normal.

 

He exited the library slowly, listening out for any movement. Through the halls, he heard the echoes of laughter through the halls. The flickers of their firelight were cast against the front wall. He moved away from it.

 

The room beside the library was a study that took up two floors. Viktor closed the door, leaning against it, and smiled. This seemed more promising.

 

He glanced around quickly for any traps but saw none. That didn’t mean there weren’t any though. Some of the most effective traps were little things, such as a specific placement of an object, or a curl in the carpet. He’d fallen to the traps many times in his young age but was more aware now.

 

The first thing he looked at was the desk. It wasn’t anything grand, a simple wood in need of a polish, with papers scattered all over the surface, some in danger of slipping. A pen had been left on one pile, dripping ink onto the white paper. It had been there for some time, Viktor suspected.

 

With a careful hand, he began to lift the pages. Business contracts and invoices, including a few maps. But there wasn’t much more that alluded anything to a secret treasure. He placed everything back as it was and began to pull out the drawers. Files, more papers, an endless supply of pens and pencils, but nothing more that Viktor could use. He closed them all and wandered through the study.

 

He did as he had in the library, searching behind the carefully-kept book shelves and books, steadily growing more and more annoyed that there was nothing. On the surface of it all, this family did seem like any other family. Usually, he happened across families that were lazy in their secret-keeping. There was always a key hidden close, a criminal record in file, a lock combination in a pocket. If searched, there were always secrets spilling from them. He expected this family to be the same.

 

But he’d searched two rooms and found nothing. He knew it was only two of many in the house, but it was the two he most often found things in. By now, he would have found what he came for, or a hint for it.

 

Nothing.

 

He moved to the second floor of the study, searching behind the photos for some sort of safe. Strange that the rich hadn’t quite caught on to the fact that everyone knew they kept things behind paintings. But it seemed this family did know. There was nothing behind.

 

Viktor sighed. He’d search the whole house all night long if he had to, but he was beginning to think that if the family were this good at keeping their surface clean, then he would have a lot of trouble. It had been moved, whatever ‘it’ was, and he had no idea where. He thought the challenge would be something that could help break him of his boredom, but now he was beginning to get annoyed.

 

“It better be something more than a sword,” he whispered to himself. “Or some old map or something.”

 

If he was going to spend tonight trailing through an old, cold house, then he was going to make sure it was worth his while.

 

He froze as he heard the low creak of the door opening. He glanced back, gazing through the bannisters to see the light of the hallway peeking in. A silhouette danced against it, slow and steady as a body stepped into the room. He retreated until he was in the corner and covered by the shadows of the dimly lit room.

 

Whoever it was, they closed the door slowly and carefully, as if they were not meant to be in here to begin with. Viktor watched their silhouette move, standing still. They were waiting for something – perhaps to listen to anyone in the room, or anyone outside of it. It made Viktor curious.

 

Perhaps it was a worker that knew about the treasure. If it meant he could find it and go home faster, then by all means, let the worker do as they wished. But instead of yearning to leave, he felt his heart beginning to thump louder in his chest.

 

The silhouette moved closer, blocking the light cascading in from the cracks in the door.

 

A body followed.

 

It was a man. He wore a fine suit, black with a red tie, fitted perfectly as any rich man could afford. He was young, perhaps younger than Viktor, with messy black hair and a tanned face, glasses that seemed large from the distance. He was careful yet confident in his movements, sneaking so quietly that even Viktor was impressed.

 

Viktor bent low and followed the veranda until he stood almost directly above the man, looking down at the desk he had just been searching. Closer now, Viktor could say with certainty the man was younger than him – perhaps early twenties. He moved as a dancer would, steady and fluid and Viktor watched with rapt attention.

 

The man searched the desk, lifting the papers carefully as Viktor had just done. He seemed uncaring of any traps.

 

Viktor leaned his arms on the bannister, drinking in the man’s form. The suit really did fit him nicely, hugging his curves. For a second, he worried that another thief had been sent to retrieve what he had been sent to find, but something about the man’s familiarity with the layout had him pausing. He searched as if he knew what the chaos had inside it.

 

Interesting, Viktor thought. Perhaps this man was part of their extended family, or a high-placed worker. But why was he searching the desk? Why was he in the study of the head of the house?

 

He hadn’t made a sound, but the man turned around to glance behind him. He didn’t look up, missing Viktor completely, and there was a flick of panic on his face.

 

Viktor’s eyes widened. The man was breath-taking, with full lips, soft cheeks, and eyes that he could drown in forever. As the man turned back to his search of the desk, Viktor wanted to make noise just to get the attention back on him.

 

It wasn’t long before the man sighed and gave up. He ran a hand through his hair, making Viktor envious of the gesture, and exited the study as quietly as he had come in. The door clicked shut behind him.  

 

Viktor was left awe-struck. “Hello, beautiful.”


	2. I'll Think About It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by the fabulous whynikkiwhy

Yuuri was sure he had heard something in his father’s office. Something low, something subtle, something that he couldn’t explain. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure it was just something he had made up, but he couldn’t be rid of the feeling. Nothing had been there when he checked, but that didn’t mean anything. There was always something hiding in the shadows.

 

He tried to convince himself it was just his imagination running wild because he hadn’t meant to be in his father’s office anyway. While his parents entertained guests in their reception room, he stalked the halls under the excuse that he was getting a late-night snack. Really, he was looking for anything suspicious – he worried that their sudden… letting go of an employee might result in her telling others about their underlying interests.

 

Mari had assured him that she found nothing on her patrol. Nothing suspicious. Yuuri was still unsure.

 

He just needed a drink, he thought. He just needed to get rid of the nervous energy, to stop thinking about the potential of someone breaking into their home, hiding in the dark. It wasn’t going to happen. Their house was safe. Their cover was safe.

 

He took a bottle of water from the fridge, chugging down the gulps, and turned back to the reception room before his family noticed his absence enough to find him.

 

The fire in the fireplace was still burning strong, leaving a heavy scent of ash in the air as the wood crackled. The orange glow filled the dark room, flickering over their faces. His parents were laughing at a joke that one of their guests made while Mari was sat flipping through a magazine. When he entered, she glanced up.

 

He shook his head. She nodded, already knowing the answer. He didn’t think about what he had felt in his father’s office – it must have been his paranoia. He sat down in a chair beside his sister and ran a hand through his hair.

 

Outside of the window, the black shapes of the trees danced across the dark blue of the fading sky. In the day, he found it beautiful. At night, it almost seemed threatening somehow. The branches brushed against the window, scratching, sending shivers up Yuuri’s spine. Something could be looking in and they’d never know it.

 

Shut up, he thought. There was no guarantee that their fired maid would say anything. True, she had seemed bitter at being let go, but what else were his parents to do when they noticed her sneaking around the house? She’d cursed and threatened them, claiming she’d tell people of the treasure that they were keeping. She didn’t know what it was, only that they had something hidden that they didn’t want anyone else knowing about.

 

Yuuri sighed and leaned back in the chair. It had been a week and so far nothing had happened. He doubted it would now, but there was something pulling tight around him, something that kept him on edge. He was waiting for it to snap, but it wasn’t.

 

“Isn’t that right, Yuuri?” his mother suddenly asked.

 

“I’m sorry,” Yuuri swallowed. “I was in a world of my own. Could you repeat that?”

 

His mother seemed ready to reprimand him, but there must have been something in his expression that stopped her. “Mrs Minami is talking about her son’s birthday party. I was saying how lovely it was that she invited us.”

 

Yuuri’s cheeks blushed in embarrassment. “Uh, yes. How kind of you, Mrs Minami.”

 

The woman waved her hand with a giggle. She was a small woman, round from her years, with wrinkles on her face that could come only from smiling so much. “Nonsense, Yuuri.  My son would love to have you there. I remember still how he used to follow you around like a little duckling as a child.”

 

He still does that, Yuuri thought but kept it to himself. He gave a polite laugh back, resisting his urge to awkwardly rub the back of his neck. “I have not seen him for some time. It would be great to see how he has grown.”

 

“He is quite the young man now,” Mr Minami commented. He was a taller man. His son, Kenjirou, had taken after him in looks and figure, both thin, both able to move like a dancer. They had the same shade of blond hair, the same snaggle-tooth. Kenjirou, however, got his personality from his mother. Mr Minami was stricter, with no laughter lines, no brightness to his eyes. “Soon, it will be time for him to become a man and take over the family business.”

 

‘The family business’. Also known as the Minami empire, the family that transported illegal goods such as stolen artefacts and expensive, heavy wine. It was a well-known secret that the family had never been caught, though everyone knew it was true. It was a truth with no evidence.

 

Mr Minami turned to glance at both Mari and Yuuri, regarding them with his cold gaze. “You are both of age now. When is it that you will take over the spa business from your poor parents?”

 

Yuuri’s mother waved it off with a giggle. “My husband and I are enjoying it far too much for us to pass it on just yet. Mari and Yuuri help us through cleaning and building work.”

 

Mr Minami didn’t seem happy with the answer – it didn’t fall in with his traditional views. Yuuri didn’t want to say anything about how his illegal business wasn’t traditional either. Many of the families in their circles had something to hide – though they didn’t hide it well. They all had something illegal, something expensive, something that they boasted about drunk at parties.

 

The Katsuki family were the only family that seemed clean on the surface, and many of the layers underneath. It was why they were boring, why they were not the favourites of any party, why many spoke their name with disinterest. They were often forgotten and left without expectations. It had taken a long time for Yuuri’s friends in school to even realise that the Katsuki spas had anything to do with his family – that was how easily they disappeared under the radar.

 

But for the first time, something was beginning to spring up. Ever since the firing of their maid, things had cropped up. One or two more applications for household staff than they normally had, more customers to their spas and bathhouses, and the Minami family visiting. They hardly ever did, and not of their own volition. Usually it took several invitations from the Katsukis to bring them. But Yuuri knew there was something odd when his mother had told him of their invitation to Kenjirou’s birthday party.

 

Mr and Mrs Minami never personally handed out invitations.

 

Nosy idiots, he thought.

 

But the Minamis left without anything more than they had arrived with. They were hesitant but as the night seeped in, time ticked against their conscience. Their house needed tending and it would be rude to impose. They left and Yuuri’s family loitered in the lobby, watching as Hiroko Katsuki gently closed the door.

 

They waited a few moments, listening to the sound of the Minami car running over the gravel and disappear, before they erupted into conversation.

 

“I never thought they were going to leave,” Mari sighed heavily, collapsing into the lobby chair propped against the wall. The scrape against the marble floor had one of the maids flinching as she rushed to clear the reception room.

 

“For them to be so curious to come here themselves,” Yuuri’s father hummed, stroking his bare chin, “it must mean that rumours have spread.”

 

“She’s passed something around,” Yuuri said, glad that his suspicions seemed to finally have been confirmed. His odd feeling, his worry that the maid’s threats hadn’t been just empty words, were finally coming into fruition.

 

His mother said, “We should expect visits such as these from now on.”

 

“Parties are going to be fun now,” Mari commented. “I was enjoying my anonymity. I could drink and smoke as much as I wanted to and no one even looked at me.”

 

“We just need to wait for this to blow over,” Yuuri’s father informed them. “Once they see that the allegations are just the rambles of a bitter ex-employee, they’ll lose interest again. They will forget all about it.”

 

Yuuri hoped so. He could feel his anxiety beginning to rise, anticipation leaking into his body. Usually, his instincts weren’t wrong.

 

***

 

His first indication that there was something wrong was when he worked the bathhouse with his father. The southern spa on the main street was one his father had just bought and converted, opened a month before.

 

It had been popular because of its primary location and its grand opening. It attracted all kinds of people. But this was different. People stared as Yuuri and his father surveyed the spa. Yuuri followed his father with a clipboard and pen, taking notes as his father made comments on things to make better, things that weren’t quite up to scratch yet.

 

Conversations died as they walked into the room. Groups turned towards them, staring without shame. Whispers crept between them.

 

His father ignored it and continued to make comments, urging Yuuri to continue as he was doing. But it felt suffocating being underneath the eyes of all those people. He knew what they were looking at, what they were thinking. What hid underneath the surface of the Katsuki family? What illegal business were they into?

 

The truth was nothing. His family had morals that other richer families did not. However, there was some truth to the rumours. They were hiding something.

 

Yuuri did his best to ignore them and list everything his father was naming out, but he didn’t feel completely free of it until they left the bathhouse to walk back home. He could finally breathe once he felt their stares were cut off, their words no longer reaching his ears. His father patted a hand on his shoulder.

 

“The rumours will only continue to grow until they burn out completely, Yuuri,” he said. “We’re going to become quite the talk of the town until they do. Do not acknowledge them. Perhaps a few of the rumours will have truth, but those will blend in with the lies. No one will be able to tell the difference.”

 

“What if people come looking for it?”

 

“What people?”

 

Yuuri shrugged. “Thieves? They’re getting better these days. Just a few days ago, money was stolen from the bank. The thieves got through the security without alerting it once.”

 

“They will not find anything in our house.”

 

Yuuri didn’t want to mention the things he had heard in the news, of priceless pieces of art being stolen right under guards’ noses, of rare items taken from homes, of how thieves’ activities seemed to be increasing recently. Many families didn’t report their theft because of the shame it would bring on their name, but Yuuri’s friend, Phichit Chulanont, also known as the gossip and social guru of the town, knew these things. If Phichit said something happened, it most likely had, and he had the evidence to back it up.

 

Just a few days ago, someone had seen a thief in their house, stealing a priceless ring. It was just a glimpse while the thief was distracted, and the person had disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared. Thieves were getting bolder, stealing bigger things, more expensive items, and the more secretive something was, Yuuri noticed the thieves made it a priority.

 

Their item was definitely a very closely-hidden secret. It was art. It was priceless.

 

Everything the thieves wanted.

 

***

 

But nothing happened. Days passed and Yuuri was still wound tight in anticipation.

 

Whatever had happened in the office, he hadn’t felt that again. He convinced himself he’d heard nothing and that his imagination was running wild. They were still stared at, still whispered about, but it was already losing its fire.

 

For that, he was thankful. Minami’s party crept closer and he _really_ didn’t want to be the centre of attention.

 

It was going to be a grand affair. Families from all over town had been invited – they’d come in droves, dressed to the nines in glitter and money, taking any excuse to make themselves the talk of the town. Their conversation would be short and fake, their smiles done only to show their shining teeth, eyes glancing around for the next big drama. It would be beautiful on the surface, but layers of lies were easy enough to see.

 

It was why Yuuri was dreading it. He hated parties. People never noticed him, and when they did it was only to glare or sneer at him. Now, with the rumours going around, there would be some trying to speak to him simply to know if they were true. But he had to go – for Kenjirou, for the face of his family, for the assurance that the rumours would die down.

 

He donned his suit, practiced hands pulling at the material until it fit him perfectly. He ran a hand through his hair, gelled fingers locking the strands in place until it was all out of his face. A little sprinkling of powder on his face and he was done. He admired his image in the mirror, caught between flinching and nodding.

 

There was a knock at the door. At his call, it slowly opened and in came his sister. She swished in a beautiful gown, glittering in blue gems. The straps were thin, revealing more of her torso and arms than Mari usually liked to show, exposing her tanned skin and light freckles. The skirt of the dress was loose and fell to touch the floor, flailing with every movement. Her hair, usually just held back by a band, was now curled and hanging beside her face. Her features were lined in makeup.

 

She closed the door gently behind her using her hip as her hands were full. Two flutes of champagne were held in her grip. She held one out for Yuuri to take.

 

“What’s this for?” he asked as he took it. The glass was cold to the touch, the bubbles still popping at the top of the drink.

 

“Just a little bit of a relaxant before the party,” she explained. “It’s going to be a long night.”

 

“I know we have to go, but can’t we just… not?”

 

She smiled, sensing the humour in his question, but her answer was serious. “The families would suspect something more if we didn’t turn up. We must go and blend in, just like always. Show them that we’re the same as always.”

 

Yuuri huffed and took a sip. He wanted to chug it down but stopped himself. 

 

“It’ll be fine,” his sister assured. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

 

Yuuri stopped himself from answering.

 

Quietly, they finished their drinks, feeling the alcohol warm their stomachs. The fruity taste clung to the back of his tongue. It spurred him on.

 

As a family, they travelled down a few streets to where the Minami mansion held the party. Before they even arrived, they heard the noise. The hired orchestra were loud, their music rising up above the houses, the bright lights in their garden drowned out the stars in the sky, and the shrill laughter of the party goers rang through the air. As the Katsukis rounded the corner, their hearts dropped.

 

It really was grand. The house almost seemed to be drowning in light and money. No expenses had been left out. The gardens were covered in sculptures, butlers and maids waiting to greet the guests, servants rushing around with plates of food.

 

Yuuri almost backed off but his father grabbed his arm before he could. He said, “It’ll be fine.”

 

With deep breaths, the family strode forwards. For a little while, it all seemed fine. But as they reached the gates, as families began to notice them, their peace was broken. Conversations were stopped, people turned to glance at them. They were being obvious as they whispered to one another. They continued as normal and walked into the house.

 

The reception was filled with families and every single one froze as they walked in. Their stares were obvious, their surprise radiating off them. The whispers began again.

 

Yuuri concealed his need to curl into himself. As a waiter walked passed, Mari grabbed two more flutes of alcohol and handed one to him, encouraging him to take a sip. He did. It tasted expensive, with the same bitterness at the bottom of the glass that came with mature drinks. No doubt the Minamis had taken it from their cellar and opened up new bottles just for today.

 

The silence was burst as someone gasped. Yuuri’s head snapped as the familiar voice rang above the staring people. They parted and from their sea came a small shape, only the top of his head exposed. The blond hair with a stripe of red was unmistakeable. Kenjirou appeared, a massive smile on his face as he noticed Yuuri. He barrelled toward the older man.

 

“Yuuri!” he greeted. He hugged Yuuri as tightly as he could, smiling up at him with sparkling eyes. “You came!

 

Yuuri smiled back though it was more strained than the teenager’s. “I did. Happy birthday, Kenjirou.”

 

“Thank you! Welcome, and please enjoy all the food and the drinks we have,” he said, bowing to the Katsuki family. “We have entertainment in the hall. Father was kind enough to hire a travelling circus for my birthday! I’ve never seen one before. They’re amazing. And there’s an orchestra in the gardens. Oh! A famous poet is reciting in the library too! And our lake has been frozen over too for skating!”

 

Yuuri listened, trying to show interest, but it was flying over his head. Kenjirou spoke so quickly, it was hard for him to keep up. Yuuri had known the boy since his birth. He was filled with energy, never able to stay in one spot for long and always bouncing about. For some reason, he had given Yuuri idol status and weighed every word of his with importance. Yuuri’s mother liked to compare Kenjirou to a lost little duckling following his mother whenever Yuuri was in the same room.

 

Yuuri didn’t know what he had done to warrant it. Suddenly remembering the present in his hand that had not held the alcohol, he handed it awkwardly to the young boy. “Here is our present. We hope you like it.”

 

Kenjirou’s eyes sparkled as if Yuuri had handed him the whole world. He hugged the package to his chest. “Thank you so much! I love it!”

 

Mari chuckled. “You haven’t even opened it.”

 

“I love it anyway!”

 

Someone called Kenjirou’s name. The small teenager said, “I’m sorry. I must be off. Apparently, hosting a birthday party means I have to speak to everyone.” He rushed off before Yuuri could even say goodbye.

 

Kenjirou’s appearance had eased the tension some in the room. Families turned away, filling the silence with their small conversation, occasionally turning their way to glance at them. It helped to ease Yuuri a little, though he flinched every time someone glanced his way.

 

Yuuri finished his drink just as his sister did. He took her glass and said, “I’ll go look for some more.” He wanted to move. He hated staying in the same room, standing on his feet while they feigned being aware of the glances around them. His nervous energy wanted him to move.

 

“Good idea. I think we’ll need it,” his sister encouraged.

 

Yuuri left before she even finished.

 

It was busier as he walked further into the house. Usually, he hated it. He hated pushing his way through the crowds of people, hated how their voices rang too high as they laughed and asked meaningless questions, hated that they walked into him as if they couldn’t see him. But now he didn’t mind it. They were too busy to notice his presence, and therefore too busy to stare at him and make him uncomfortable. By the time someone did notice him, he had bodies to hide behind and a way to escape.

 

He found a buffet table laid out along the dining hall. The Minami’s grand oak table had been pushed to sit beside the wall, layered with cloth and hundreds of plates of food. The plates closer to the door were familiar foods that Yuuri had grown up with. They grew more foreign the further into the room he walked, however.

 

The drinks were at the back wall. Waitresses stood beside it, offering to pour new glasses and cleaning up any spillages.

 

One greeted him as he walked towards the table. “Hello, sir. Is there anything you’d like in particular?”

 

“Uh, just champagne please.”

 

She waved at the section on her right. “What type, sir? We have northern champagne, matured until perfection after being harvested in the-”

 

“Yeah, sure. I’ll have two glasses, please.”

 

If she thought it was rude that he interrupted her, she showed no signs of it. “Good choice, sir,” she said as she handed him two glasses. “Please enjoy.”

 

Her smile was too robotic, her words too dull. This was why he hated parties – every emotion seemed processed. Kenjirou was the only real person he had come across so far.

 

As he turned, he almost walked into someone. He gasped and pulled back just in time, with only a drop of champagne escaping the lip of the glass. It slid down the surface and landed on his finger. “I’m very sorry,” he rushed to say, eyes glancing over the person’s chest for any spillage. The crisp white shirt was clean, however.

 

“It’s alright. It was my mistake. I should not have walked so closely to you.”

 

Yuuri glanced up. His hands started to shake.

 

The first thing he noticed was that the man was one of the most stunning people Yuuri had ever seen. He was tall, with beautiful silver hair, fair soft skin, eyes narrowed in a smile and shining blue through his long eyelashes, gorgeous thin lips. He was dressed in a simple grey suit that his body filled out nicely in all the right places, springing thoughts to Yuuri’s mind that he chased away quickly. For a moment, he thought of how this man fit everything he found attractive. He almost seemed perfect. Even his voice sent shivers up his spine, touching his soul as if it was so easy.

 

The second thing he noticed was that this man was the first unfamiliar person he had seen tonight. Usually, the same people attended parties. He knew every family in this town. He had grown up with them. New people were a rarity. But this man, Yuuri had never seen him – and he knew he would have remembered him.

 

Yuuri swallowed down his surprise. “Well, sorry all the same. I should have looked where I was going before I turned.” He made to move, but the crowds were making it difficult.

 

The man spoke again, stopping him in his tracks. “You are Yuuri Katsuki, am I right?”

 

Immediately, Yuuri was on edge. His muscles tensed, his blood ran cold. He turned back to the man, trying to conceal a glare. “Yes, my name is Yuuri Katsuki. Have you heard of me?” He couldn’t help it – his voice was stiffer, harsher. He tried to ease it back into the welcoming tone he had only a few seconds ago, but it was difficult. He began to suspect that this foreigner was just here because of the rumours.

 

The man’s ease also faded. His smile faltered slightly, but he kept trying. “Only that you are beautiful, but that doesn’t seem to do you justice.”

 

Yuuri rolled his eyes. “If all you are going to do is flirt, then I must go. Excuse me and I’m sorry again for almost running into you.” He saw the man opening his mouth to say something, but Yuuri managed to find a gap in the crowd and escape before the foreigner could say anything. Bitterness was beginning to flow through him, the man’s words replaying in his mind.

 

If someone wanted to face him about the rumours, then that was one thing. But to disguise it as fake flirting and to beat around the bush, Yuuri had no time for people like that.

 

He found his sister again. She was swamped between a group of young adults, most about her age. Yuuri recognised them immediately as the spoiled brats that did nothing more with their time than throw money at passing entertainment, whatever it was that held their attention for more than a few seconds. The men were pinning her to the corner, creeping closer until the distance between them was closing. The women were behind, tittering behind their manicured hands. Mari didn’t seem phased. Her lips were twitching, her body itching for a cigarette.

 

Yuuri cleared his throat behind them. They spun around to face him. “If you do not mind,” he began, “I have business with my sister. I’m sorry to interrupt what I assume must be an interesting conversation.”

 

He didn’t falter under their glares, which seemed to annoy them more. What he thought might have been their leader, a young man of mid-twenties with a thin face and hair covered in so much gel that it never moved, moved forward and opened his small mouth to say something. Mari pushed by him, stopping whatever words were about to leave his lips.

 

“Come on, Yuuri,” Mari said, taking hold of his arm and guiding him through the house, careful not to spill his drinks. When they were far enough away and standing outside, she lit up a cigarette and began to laugh. “The cheek of some of the people here.”

 

“What did they want?” Yuuri asked, placing their drinks onto a window ledge. The outside air was cool against his warm skin, seeping in through his clothes. It ran through his hair, like the touch of a parent. He took a sip of his own drink before he turned to the gardens. Many of the guests had found their way out here and danced underneath the lamp lights to a small orchestra located in the middle of the low maze.

 

“What you’d expect,” Mari replied, taking a drag of her cigarette until the end burned orange. She tapped the ash away and blew out the smoke. “They were asking about the rumours and what our family had. They were trying to make friends with me, but in that threatening way, you know?”

 

“And what did you say?”

 

“I didn’t say anything. I just stared at them while they talked. I think that pissed them off more.” She stamped out her cigarette and took her drink from the window sill. She gulped half of it down and smacked her lips together. “How long have we been here?”

 

“Probably at most half an hour.”

 

“Then just another few hours and then its an acceptable time to leave. Stay strong, Yuuri. Stay strong.”

 

Yuuri took a gulp of his own drink, already beginning to feel the drink tingle at the tips of his fingers. He hated parties more than anything, and yet it seemed to be the favourite thing of the rich to do. There was always at least one big party per month, and it was rude to not turn up to them. The Katsukis had to host their own fair share, just to make sure that they blended in.

 

“Well, well, little bro,” Mari whispered, tearing him from his thoughts. “Seems you have an admirer.”

 

Mari pointed to the entrance of the maze. Yuuri turned to look, sighing as he saw who it was. It was the same strange foreigner he had seen earlier. He stood leaning against a post, one hand in his pocket, legs crossed, a drink in hand. He was staring at Yuuri and when he saw the younger man looking, he raised his glass to Yuuri.

 

“From your expression, I’m guessing you know him?” Mari said.

 

“When I went to get our drinks, he was flirting with me.”

 

“He’s a good looking man. I’m surprised you seem so annoyed at his advance.”

 

“I think he’s just interested because of the rumours.” Even when Yuuri didn’t reply to the man’s cheers, the foreigner didn’t seem annoyed. Instead, he took a sip and winked to Yuuri. Yuuri turned away. “He knew my name. I think it’s not a coincidence that he happens to know it and arrive when the rumours have worked their way around.”

 

“Oh. Shame. He’s gorgeous and right up your street.”

 

He could still feel the man’s gaze on him, boring into his body, trailing along his form. He should have felt repulsed, but he didn’t. There was something exciting about the gaze, though he felt the guilt settling into him. He was nothing more than a target for this person, and yet he could feel himself tempted by the man’s hot gaze, his soft words, his captivating eyes. “Yeah. Shame.”

 

“You could always just play with him,” Mari suggested.

 

Yuuri’s gaze snapped to her. He didn’t like the mischief in her voice. If experience had taught him anything, nothing good ever came from that voice of hers. “Play with him?”

 

“Yes,” she replied, turning her sparkling eyes onto him. She gulped the rest of the drink down before she continued, “If he persists, accept his advances. Have a little fun. If he’s just going to use you to learn more about whatever that maid’s been blabbing about, then you should be able to use him too.”

 

At first, Yuuri didn’t like the idea. But the more he thought about it, the more he remembered his brief interaction with the man, it began to grow on him. He turned back to the foreigner and saw that he was still looking at Yuuri with that heavy gaze. It sent shivers up his spine.

 

He said, “I’ll think about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the responce to the last chapter. I'm so happy to be back, and it means so much to see how many of you feel the same! I'm not sure about how many chapters this fic will have yet, but I will update you all as soon as I know. For now, look forward to every Thursday for new chapters XD Back into the whole weekly schedule! :3 
> 
> If you'd like to follow updates, you can find me on tumblr 
> 
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	3. They Have No Idea You’re Coming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta read by the brilliant whynikkiwhy

“Well, hello there. I couldn’t help but notice that you were stood here alone, and I thought what a shame it was. A gorgeous man such as yourself deserves all the company in the world to do with as you wish.”

 

Viktor sighed openly. He wasn’t sure how many this made now, but he knew it was too much. He glanced to the person speaking – it was a young woman, perhaps just a few years younger than him, with a body that many other women would be jealous over. Her dress clung to her hourglass figure, showing off her curves, the straps of her dress open to show her slim back and tanned skin. She had long black hair that had been pinned into a curl at the back of her head, stuck in place by a clip decorated with a large diamond. Her makeup was perfect, settling on her delicate features, big wide and brown eyes gazing at Viktor with promise.

 

But it was a promise Viktor wanted nothing of. When Yuuri stood before him, at the other side of the garden, it was hard to give attention to everything else. Everyone else at the party had become nothing but blurs, moving shapes too uninteresting for him to focus on. It had taken him a while to even realise that the woman Yuuri was speaking to was the same woman that had almost seen him out of the window as he hid in the trees, smoking a cigarette.

 

She looked a little like Yuuri. She had the same soft cheeks, the same bright eyes, the same walk. As he realised their family resemblance, what might have been the beginnings of jealousy burned away. Whatever Mari was saying, it was pulling a smile to Yuuri’s lips and Viktor spurred the woman on.

 

“I don’t like big crowds,” the woman begging for his attention continued. “Why don’t we go somewhere quiet? We could go for a drink, just the two of us.”

 

She pressed herself to his side, attempting to tempt him with her large breasts and small figure. Viktor pulled himself away without a glance towards her. “No, thank you. I prefer my drinks newly poured than one sipped by many.” He moved away from her before she could reply.

 

Yuuri was moving. A group of adults were trying to speak to him, though Yuuri and his sister didn’t seem at all comfortable by the situation. Viktor leaned against a low garden wall and took a sip of his drink, watching Yuuri’s every movement. The man was mesmerising. Even the flick of a finger had Viktor wanting to fall to his knees.

 

And yet Yuuri didn’t seem at all interested in him – better said, Yuuri didn’t seem at all interested on _acting_ upon his interest in Viktor. The Russian had seen Yuuri’s gaze when they spoke, saw the way his eyes drunk in his form, how he seemed to appreciate Viktor’s body as much as Viktor did his. But as soon as Viktor had mentioned his name, or as soon as he had spoken really, Yuuri had pulled back.

 

He didn’t know why. He didn’t know what had the other man so on edge that it made him build walls. He seemed uncomfortable in this environment, which Viktor thought odd for a rich family. He was sure that this was normal for such people, with the excuse of parties just to gossip and show off their wealth. The more Viktor thought about it, the more he wanted to know – really, he wanted to know anything about Yuuri, anything he could get.

 

He saw Yuuri glance his way every now and then during his conversation with the group of adults. Every time he did, Viktor made sure that their eyes connected. He wanted Yuuri to leave tonight with Viktor on his mind.

 

A shrill ring broke him from his daze. He took his phone from his pocket, moving behind the hedge to give himself some privacy. He didn’t need to look at the I.D to know who it was. Only his group called this phone, and only one of them called it regularly.

 

Without any greeting, Yakov asked, “ _How is it going?”_

 

“Hello, Yakov. The party is going great. The wine here is delicious. We should really tell Chris about the next party, he’d love to sample some.”

 

“ _Not that, I mean the job_.”

 

“Oh. Right, it’s going well.”

 

“ _Define ‘well’, Viktor_.”

 

“…” Viktor pursed his lips, thinking carefully. “I haven’t found anything yet.”

 

“ _Any leads?”_

 

“No.”

 

Yakov sighed on the other end. “ _Then, where does ‘well’ come into this?”_

 

“I’ve made contact with the son, Yuuri Katsuki. I plan to make further advancements.”

 

“ _Do you think he’ll tell you about it?”_

 

Viktor said nothing and he knew Yakov understood the silence immediately. It was answered by a heavier silence on the other end, a space he knew Yakov was slowly gaining strength to be able to scream an earthquake. Surprisingly, however, the answer was calm – or as close to calm as Yakov could be, which was more like a breakable dam against a rising storm.

 

“ _Let me see_ ,” Yakov sighed, his voice accompanied by flipping pages. “ _Yuuri Katsuki, was it?”_

 

“If you’re looking at the profiles-”

 

“ _Viktor, are you telling me you’re forgetting your job because you’ve gone starry-eyed over this boy?”_

 

“But look at him. You have the picture there, right? He’s beautiful.”

 

“ _This picture is very blurry, Viktor_.”

 

“I know. It’s not very good is it? I mistook him for a family employee when I first saw him because I didn’t recognise him. I could take a quick photo of him for you now and send it to you? I’m sure you’d be able to appreciate his beauty as I have-”

 

“ _You have a job, Viktor. Get to it_.” Yakov hung up.

 

Viktor placed the phone back in his pocket. With one more sip, his drink was finished. He left it on a garden table as he turned back around the hedge. The first thing he noticed was that Yuuri was gone, moved while Viktor had been distracted. They hadn’t long since moved – he could tell by the way the group that they had been talking to were watching the doors, as if they were still watching Yuuri and his sister leaving.

 

He bit his lip and interrupted their hushed whispers.

 

“Hello,” he greeted as he got close enough. They jumped, not having noticed him until his voice broke their bubble. One man seemed ready to argue with him but paused as he saw Viktor’s appearance. Immediately, smiles pulled at their made-up features. “My name is Viktor Nikiforov. I am from the town over, come to celebrate my cousin’s birthday.”

 

The man closest held out his hand for a handshake, the others around him following suit. They rattled off their names, but Viktor didn’t care enough to memorise them. His gaze was drawn to their jewellery, catching their sparkles. They might have been expensive and polished so well that he could see his own reflection in them, but they were not beautiful. They were generic, made only to flaunt money, to draw superficial beauty.

 

Yuuri didn’t need that sort of thing, Viktor thought. It had only taken one look at Yuuri’s bare face, his seemingly ordinary look, and he had fallen hard. Yuuri’s sudden coldness earlier had only helped but spur that on.

 

“Those two that you were just speaking to,” Viktor began, uncaring of if he had accidentally cut someone off or not. “I was thinking of introducing myself to them too.”

 

“I would not bother,” one of the women tutted, rolling her eyes at what Viktor thought might have been her husband.

 

“No?”

 

“No,” one of the men closer to him said. “A week ago, it might have been worth it, though it would have been an incredibly dull conversation. However, now it is not worth it.”

 

“Why not?” Viktor had noticed the odd taboo there seemed to be surrounding the family. Those who spoke to Yuuri and his sister seemed to want something of it, and those who were not were keeping away.

 

One of the other women beside him volunteered to continue the subject. She stepped a little closer to him, bending in such a way that attracted all attention, and said, “They were quite the boring family, you see. They attended parties, but they didn’t socialise. I always thought that they saw themselves as above us, for whatever reason. But recently, a maid they fired has been spreading rumours about something that they’ve been keeping a secret; a treasure of sorts.”

 

Viktor tried to contain a smile. How easy it was to draw information from the rich, he thought. “Oh? And what is this treasure?”

 

The group remained silent for a short time as they exchanged glances. Viktor began to grow impatient until a man that hadn’t spoken yet said, “No one really knows. There are rumours about what it is, but they vary greatly.”

 

“What rumours are those?”

 

One said, “A rumour says that they have been involved with a very dangerous family, and this treasure is a payment for their favours. I know not what favours, but I have found it suspicious how quickly that family managed to raise a spa business.”

 

Another said, “Apparently, the treasure is something that they have stolen from another family. They keep it hidden because they’re actually a family of criminals. I’ve had jewellery and clothing go missing. I’ve started to suspect it was them.”

 

A third said, “I don’t believe they actually have a treasure. I think it’s a ploy to gain attention.”

 

Viktor’s attention was switched off as soon as they began to blabber. He expected grounded rumours, proper whispers that could give him more information – not the jealousy of the bored, or the outrageous lies that were obviously not true. He’d only known the family for a few days and he already knew that the words spilling from these mouths were unbelievable.

 

“Thank you for your time,” he said, sure he had cut off someone again, and turned away. He threw their memory away nearly as soon as they had left his sight.

 

There might have been a little, tiny bit, of truth somewhere along the second rumour, however. He remembered how Mari had almost caught him hiding in the trees, or how Yuuri had heard him in the library when he had only breathed. They were aware of the maid’s rumours, and they were protecting something.

 

With every passing minute, Viktor was finding this job more and more interesting – and not just because Yuuri proved to be one of the most gorgeous people he had ever seen.

 

As if beckoned by his thoughts, Yuuri appeared before him. He was stood in the house, sipping a drink as he walked through the hallway. His sister was no longer with him and he seemed to be trying his hardest to avoid people who were brave enough to approach him. Viktor watched Yuuri mutter something over his shoulder at a middle-aged man and walk off as the approacher was still trying to speak.

 

Viktor took a deep breath and ran a hand through his gelled hair. He’d try again, he thought. Yuuri didn’t look at the others as he did Viktor, didn’t see others with that same attraction. Perhaps he’d be luckier this time.

 

He walked after Yuuri and reached him as they stood in the grand hall. An inside orchestra was playing loudly, the floor cleared for dancers. An idea struck Viktor.

 

“Yuuri Katsuki,” he called, voice just loud enough over the band to be able to reach Yuuri.

 

The smaller man turned, fire burning in his eyes. It sent shivers up Viktor’s spine, his heart clenching in his chest. When Yuuri’s eyes fell on him, it eased some, though the guard was still there.

 

Viktor held a hand out. “Would you like to dance?”

 

“To dance?”

 

Yuuri’s voice was just barely audible over the music as well, but what Viktor did hear had his mouth drying. Yuuri’s voice was soft, like the first blanket of snow in winter, like the ripples in water as a small shower of rain fell in, like the stuffing of a toy. “Yes,” Viktor replied.

 

“With you?”

 

“With me.”

 

There was a pause that had Viktor’s confidence breaking. He felt vulnerable underneath Yuuri’s gaze, something he barely ever felt.

 

“Alright.”

 

Viktor blinked. “Really?”

 

A tiny smirk rose on Yuuri’s lips as he gently took Viktor’s hand. He seemed to have reached something in his mind, a decision he must have been loitering on. Viktor wanted to think more on it, but Yuuri’s touch in his own had him distracted.

 

“Yes, really,” Yuuri replied. “It’ll be a great opportunity to get to know what you are after all.”

 

“Yes, what a splendid idea,” Viktor replied, allowing the younger man to take him to the middle of the dance floor.

 

Yuuri found a space in the middle of the dancing bodies and encouraged Viktor to place his hand on Yuuri’s waist. Viktor did so without hesitation, feeling his heart skip a beat at the feeling of Yuuri’s clothed body underneath his hand. There was firm muscle underneath that material, he could feel it against the palm of his hand. He stopped himself from groping.

 

As Yuuri guided him into a dance, the world around them fell away. There could have been fires burning in the doorways and Viktor would not have noticed. Yuuri’s eyes were too captivating, his breath coming out in fragile bursts from his soft lips, his cheeks begging for Viktor to press kisses to.

 

“So, you know my name. May I ask for the honour of knowing yours?” Yuuri asked, a small tilt of a smirk to his lips.

 

It had Viktor’s heart stopping all over again. “Viktor Nikiforov.”

 

“Oh, quite the foreign name.”

 

“Yes. I’m Russian, you see. I live in the town over, however. I’ve come to visit a cousin.” The words came rushing from his lips, as if he was so eager for Yuuri to know so much about him, even if half of it was a lie.

 

“Viktor,” Yuuri whispered, tasting the letters on his tongue. “How did you know my name?”

 

Viktor thought back to how Yuuri had reacted. Now that he knew more about the rumours, he suspected it might not have been the best move to start with. With a second of hesitancy, Viktor answered, “My cousin told me about you.”

 

He was on guard immediately, though this time he didn’t pull away. “What sort of things did they say?”

 

“Your family owns most of the spas and bathhouses around here. I frequent the one in my town.” He’d been a few times with Chris – the man loved to pamper himself and he often dragged Viktor with him. “I was being serious about how beautiful you were.”

 

Yuuri once again ignored his flirting. “And what of the rumours spreading around? Have you heard of those?”

 

Viktor paused. “Only recently.”

 

“What have you heard?”

 

“That your family are hiding a treasure you gained in favour from a dangerous family, or that you stole. I have also heard that you spread the rumours yourself to get attention.”

 

For whatever reason, the answer seemed to ease Yuuri. The tension in his shoulders faded, the light veins in his neck gone. He glanced away for a second, attempting to stop himself from a relieved smile, and looked back at Viktor when he was sure that he could take control of his expression. “What wild rumours,” Yuuri huffed, eyes softer than they had been. “Is there anything you want to ask about them?”

 

So many things. His job weighed on it. He wasn’t meant to be here. He was meant to be taking advantage of the empty Katsuki house, its inhabitants attending this party. But he wanted to get closer to Yuuri. He disguised that as a need to get more information – he’d looked through the house once and found no clue, but perhaps he could get it from the Katsuki son. That was part of the reason, but it wasn’t all. Seeing Yuuri had distracted him. Actually speaking to the younger man had him falling.

 

“No,” he said. “It’s none of my business.”

 

“You’re right, it’s not. Just as it is not the business of those around us, but they all spread lies and try to get close to me to know more.”

 

There was some bitterness in his voice, some of which was directed to Viktor, but he fought through it. “What vile people you surround yourself with.” To ease some of the atmosphere, he danced faster. He took control, guiding Yuuri until they were twirling through the dance hall, gliding passed other couples.

 

“I don’t. They stick around like flies,” Yuuri replied.

 

“Why do you not go home then? Surely, they aren’t worth your time?”

 

“It is the birthday of an old friend. I must come for him. As much as I would like to go home, I must show my face too otherwise worse rumours would spread.”

 

Viktor couldn’t really understand it. He did things for himself, not because he was made to do it. That part of him often annoyed Yakov, but it was how he was. If he hadn’t wanted to be here, he’d already be home. He twirled Yuuri again, loving how it seemed to surprise the younger man so much that a light blush was rising on his cheeks. “I will gladly give you company if that is what you want.”

 

Yuuri narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he danced back to Viktor, his hand settling on Viktor’s shoulder. “Thank you,” he said, though it didn’t sound genuine.

 

“Tell me more about you,” Viktor said, sensing an awkward silence. “Do you often go to the spas or bathhouses your family runs?”

 

He shook his head. “Not really. I’ve spent many hours inside them, surveying their structure and making sure everything is in working order. But I haven’t been as a guest in such a long time – probably since I was a child.”

 

Viktor was close to volunteering himself to accompany Yuuri to his next visit, just for the excuse to see the man undressing and dripping in lather and water drops. “That’s a shame. It’s so relaxing.”

 

“As a guest, yes. As an employee, I assure you it’s quite stressful.”

 

“Then tell me, what do you do to relax?”

 

A blush bloomed on Yuuri’s tanned cheeks. He bit his lip between his teeth, drawing Viktor’s gaze to his plump mouth and subtle seduction. “I dance.”

 

Viktor thought he might have seen that coming. How Yuuri moved in their dance didn’t go amiss – his every step was made with effortless perfection, with a glide than only dancers could achieve. The way he stood, with his back straight and his feet pointed, it flashed pictures of ballet in Viktor’s mind. The muscles underneath his hands were made from hours of practice, of dance moves that he probably could never imagine doing in his wildest dreams. “What sort of dance?”

 

“I was trained in ballet,” Yuuri replied, his eyes sparkling at the mention of it. “But I can do about anything.”

 

“Well, I’ll have to ask you to teach me a few moves.” He winked down at Yuuri as the younger man glanced up at him. He expected that same blush to bloom brighter, but instead Yuuri rolled his eyes. Viktor wasn’t used to his charms failing so spectacularly. Normally, a wink here and a smile there pleased just about anyone he was speaking to. But Yuuri was different – perhaps that was something that he found attractive about Yuuri. He vowed he’d try harder, however. Yuuri hadn’t pushed him away for good so far.

 

“What sort of dances would you be interested in trying?” Yuuri asked, directing the conversation back to its roots.

 

“Something passionate. Something that would have me so close to my partner that we could hold a piece of paper between us.” Try harder. He wanted to see that mischievous glint in Yuuri’s eyes. He thought it would be beautiful in those brown irises.

 

“You have to be a good dancer to be able to do that.”

 

Viktor blinked in surprise. His expression must have been a sight to see, because Yuuri began to laugh. Not a small giggle, or a fake laugh that rose in the chest, but a proper belly laugh that had Yuuri leaning forwards, his forehead almost resting on Viktor’s shoulder. He stopped their dance, completely frozen.

 

Yuuri’s laugh was just as beautiful as he was. He rang like wedding bells, like the purest melody, like a thousand birds singing the same song in the morning. It had Yuuri’s face crumpling until his eyes were too small to see through, his chubby cheeks bright red, smile so wide it seemed to almost split.

 

Viktor wasn’t sure what he had done to gain such a stunning view, but he wanted to do it again. He wanted to see Yuuri laughing and the way he seemed to glow as he did. The remnants of everything around them, the blurriness, the small sounds trying to pierce their small bubble – it all melted away immediately until Yuuri was the only thing before him.

 

Yuuri straightened up, his hand still on Viktor’s shoulder while the other went to wipe underneath his eye. For just a moment, their eyes connected. Time didn’t just stop for Viktor, it felt like it had never existed. There were no seconds, no measurement, nothing but forever.

 

But it broke the moment someone else stepped into their world. Someone else spoke Yuuri’s name and their bubble popped. An older woman that had Yuuri’s face but Mari’s hair had stepped in on their moment, unaware of how much Viktor wanted to destroy her for it. It didn’t take long for him to realise it was Yuuri’s mother – the similarities were too obvious. He felt guilty at the thought of wishing her ill then.

 

“Yuuri, we need to head back now,” she said, glancing quickly at Viktor from the corner of her eye.

 

He wasn’t sure what her expression was showing. She was smiling at her son, but there was something closed off about how her emotions were with Viktor. After that one glance, she didn’t pay him much more attention. Odd, he thought, as he was taught that the rich families almost went out of their way to introduce themselves to other people.

 

He didn’t let himself dwell on it for too long, nor to think too much about the way his heart dropped as Yuuri tore their connection. His hands moved from where they touched Viktor, and Viktor missed Yuuri’s warmth underneath his own.

 

“It’s been lovely speaking to you, Yuuri,” he almost rushed to say. He wanted to meet again, and he was about to ask it – the words were at the very tip of his tongue. But just as they were about to leave his mouth, Yuuri gave him a polite smile and disappeared among the dancing couples Viktor had forgotten about.

 

They were gone in seconds, lost among the unimportant bodies. As soon as Yuuri was out of sight, Viktor lost his interest in the party. A few more approached him, young interested ladies and gentlemen that saw onto his looks, only his surface. He rejected them all gently, though he wanted nothing more than to tell them that they could never compare to the angel that was Yuuri Katsuki.

 

***

 

“The fuck is up with you?” Yurio sneered from over his phone.

 

Viktor slumped further in his chair, fiddling with some string he had found on the floor. “Nothing.”

 

They were in Yakov’s reception, where the thieves often found themselves if they had nothing better to do. Yakov always said that they should find another meeting place, that their presence was a nuisance and scared off some of the clientele. They didn’t listen.

 

“You’re sulking. Seeing a grown man sulk makes me sick.”

 

“Then go somewhere else.” Viktor’s comment was answered with a swift kick to his hip. “And I’m not sulking.”

 

“Pouting then, whatever word you want to use, you’re doing it. Finding this job harder than you expected?” Yurio turned back to his phone, acting as if he wasn’t particularly interested in the answer. Viktor knew it was different through. The young teen just didn’t want to show he cared.

 

“I guess you could say that.”

 

“I could say a lot of things right now. Have you found what they’ve got yet?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Yurio looked over from his phone, one eyebrow raised. “Oh? What is it?”

 

“A beautiful son.”

 

Viktor could almost see the tolerance leave Yurio. His expression fell, eyes glaring so intensely that Viktor worried it could kill him. “ _That’s_ why you’re sulking? Because you’ve gone all money-eyed with a guy?”

 

“You wouldn’t understand, you’re too young.”

 

“Did he reject you for something? It sounds like he had sense.”

 

“No, he didn’t reject me. We had a lovely time dancing.”

 

“I take it back, I don’t think he had sense at all.”

 

“He’s gorgeous. I asked him questions, got to know him a little better, but our time was cut short. He had to go home.” Viktor sighed heavily, rolling his head back until it touched the chair. “It was a little odd though that he had the same name as you.”

 

“What?”

 

“Yeah. His name is Yuuri, though spelled differently from yours.”

 

Yurio stood, eyes ablaze. “That’s sick, Viktor. Don’t go after some guy with the same name as me. That’s disgusting!”

 

“Oh, please, Yurio. You’re not the only one-” Viktor stopped as the door opened. Mila strode in, a massive bag of money held underneath her arm. “Welcome back, Mila. I see your job was successful.”

 

She threw the bag onto the table and collapsed on the chair beside Viktor, sighing out her frustration. “This one was almost too easy. You’d think a rich family would use every method they could to keep their money safe, huh? Well, their safe was cheap. I could break into it easily. They didn’t even have any guards or cameras.”

 

“Was that all they had?” While the bag was large and held an impressive amount of coin, it was probably only a fraction of the money that one of the highest earning families probably had.

 

“No. I only took one bag. The rest was too much for me to carry, and we only need the one. I doubt they’d even notice it was missing – the safe looked like it hadn’t been touched in weeks,” Mila answered. She waved it away, a small smirk rising on her lips. “Anyway, what argument did I interrupt?”

 

Yurio piped up, “Viktor’s being disgusting.”

 

“Disgusting?” Mila asked, turning to Viktor.

 

“Yurio’s this close to announcing that using the name ‘Yuri’ should be against the law for anyone but him.”

 

“That’s not where this came from,” Yurio argued, his voice rising until it echoed through the room. “He’s chasing after a guy with the same name as me. It’s disgusting.”

 

“You’re chasing after a guy?”

 

Viktor rubbed his temples, Yurio’s shouting beginning to bring on an ache. “I wouldn’t say chasing, no. I’m interested, though.”

 

“Ooh, tell me more.”

 

Yurio interrupted again, taking a step closer to them. “It’s the son of his target family. He’s meant to be stealing from them and he’s just getting distracted.”

 

“Their son?” Too used to Yurio’s outbursts, Mila hadn’t turned to look at him. Instead, her curious expression stuck to Viktor’s face, though Viktor wouldn’t return it. If she thought that odd, she didn’t show it or ask. “It’s rare that you find another person interesting enough to even give them a thought.”

 

“They seem like an interesting family. I went to a party last night to observe them, and they almost seemed to go out of their way to blend in.”

 

Mila’s eyebrows shot up. “A rich family that _want_ to blend in?”

 

“Exactly. I’m nowhere close to finding what it is they have, so I wanted to observe them some more.”

 

“Did it help?”

 

Viktor thought back to Yuuri’s warm hand on his shoulder, his breath touching Viktor’s face, his words singing beside his ear. He thought of Yuuri’s eyes that he could drown in for the rest of his life, or the way he seemed closed at first but after some conversation seemed to ease into their interaction. He just thought about Yuuri. He thought about how he wanted to see him again. “Yes, I think it did. This job might take longer than my previous ones though. Usually, a family flaunt their wealth and their ‘secret’ items, so it’s not hard to find it.”

 

“Maybe you need to the maid that spread the rumours. That’s how Yakov found out about it, right?” Mila suggested.

 

Viktor had thought about it, but he wasn’t sure how much help that would be. The ex-employee had spread all that she knew, and what she did know was little. For someone having worked there for years, she should have known more. But Viktor knew it was probably the best source of information that he could get at the moment, and having already searched through the entire house once and still not found anything, he needed a firm lead.

 

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” He tapped his finger against his leg, thinking deeply.

 

“After all, you’ve succeeded in every job you’ve ever taken. They think just keeping quiet about what they have is going to stop you?” Mila laughed, the sound bubbling up from her chest. “You’ve figured out trickier things than that before. They can’t hide it for long with you about.”

 

Yurio sat back down and picked his phone back up, intending to go back to what he was doing. But his eyes wouldn’t stray from Viktor’s expression, this time his outburst melting into suspicion.

 

Mila continued, “They have no idea you’re coming.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter three already? Geez.... how has it already been that long? Next thing, it'll be chapter ten! XD 
> 
> If you'd like updates or to just chat, you can find me on tumblr 
> 
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	4. But He Didn't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by the terrific whynikkywhy

“Anything?” Yuuri’s mother asked.

 

Yuuri shook his head. “No. The perimeter is clear. Mari’s working her way south-side.”

 

His mother threw a blanket over his shoulders, rubbing along his shoulders to warm him up. “Both of you should come in soon. It’s colder now than it was a few weeks ago. Get some tea in you.”

 

“Yeah,” Yuuri replied, his gaze turning to the shadows beneath the trees. The branches waved in the breeze, crinkling as they brushed against one another. Anything could hide in that darkness, watching as his mother and he conversed. “I think I’m going to do one more loop around.”

 

His mother stopped him by grabbing his arm. “No, no, Yuuri. There won’t be anything there that you didn’t find on your first thirty loops.”

 

“But-”

 

“If there is anything searching for what we have, you know better than anyone that they won’t find it. _You_ hid it, Yuuri. _You_ made sure it stays hidden.”

 

But he could still hear the whispers from Kenjirou’s party – the words spoken so softly behind raised hands and snide glances. The rich wondered what it was, where he had hidden it, what sort of family they were now that this rumour had been raised. Along with it came the question of why they had fired the maid in the first place, and with that came the rumours that they were secretly abusive. Phichit had warned him that such a secret treasure might bring attention, but it would also bring thieves.

 

Trained or not, thieves of all kind would rise from the woodwork and stalk their halls without the Katsuki’s knowing. They’d be hiding in the darkness, eyes glinting with the promise of money, watching their every move. It set Yuuri on edge, almost breathless.

 

“Come on, Yuuri, let’s go in. Mari will come back and say how she hasn’t found anything, and we can relax.”

 

Of course, Yuuri’s paranoia had to be right. Mari came rushing around the corner, a newly opened slice along her forearm. It was thin and shallow, but it bled bright red underneath the moonlight as her staggered breath came out in visible puffs before her face.

 

“Mari?” Yuuri’s mother asked.

 

“Thief,” she breathed out. “Out back. Trying to get in through the kitchens. He’s around the stables.”

 

Yuuri was dashing off before she’d finished. He had no weapon, he had no vision in the darkness, and he had no plan. He knew his father would shout at him for it, but he rushed off anyway. He doubted the thief would still be there – if they were worth anything, the thief would have escaped long before Mari had even reached him and his mother.

 

But clearly they were not a very good thief. Yuuri saw a small shape as soon as he rounded the corner, hiding against the stable wall, trying to push themselves as close to the brick as they could. They looked anywhere but where Yuuri was standing and made a dash for the open kitchen door.

 

Yuuri cut them off, standing between them and the door. The little thief skidded to a halt, almost having slammed into Yuuri. They were dressed in all black, making it difficult for him to identify their gender. The mask they wore over their head made it impossible for Yuuri to notice any memorable features.

 

There was a moment of hesitation and then the thief brought out a knife. A thin slice of red was shining on the very edge of it, sparking images of Mari’s cut to rise to the forefront of his mind. Anger flashed inside him. As the thief lunged – albeit a little hesitant, Yuuri noticed curiously – Yuuri grabbed their wrist and directed the aim into empty air. The thief almost slammed into the wall.

 

“Who are you?” Yuuri asked as the thief corrected their balance. “What are you doing here?”

 

The thief held their knife forwards. Yuuri noticed how their hands shook. They took a step back as Yuuri moved towards them, attempting to maintain the distance.

 

“Are you here to steal from us? What do you want? What are you after?”

 

The thief waved the knife as a warning, though Yuuri doubted they were going to do much more with it.

 

His mother and sister were close behind him, followed by two guards. The guards raised their pistols, but Yuuri waved them away.

 

“He has a knife, Yuuri!” Mari shouted.

 

“They don’t know how to use it,” Yuuri assured. The thief wasn’t holding the knife in the correct way, nor were they standing in the right stance. They were new, very new. Perhaps even paid to do a one-time stealing, or to gather information.

 

He was about to ask another question when the thief turned and ran away, melting in with the shadows around the treeline. Too loud, Yuuri thought. They didn’t know what they were doing. Before his sister and mother could say anything, he told them what he was thinking.

 

“New? Why wouldn’t they send proper thieves?” Mari asked.

 

Yuuri shrugged. He was not the person to ask – his father was always the best to ask on this subject, having studied politics and business in his university days years and years ago. “Maybe it’s a test?”

 

“Or maybe it’s just a civilian that was curious,” their mother suggested.

 

Mari crossed her arms before her chest and gave a humourless chuckle. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe one of the young, bored and rich were just curious about the rumours. I wouldn’t be surprised. You saw what they were like at Minami’s party. If they didn’t stare at us, then they were approaching us about it.”

 

Their mother sighed and wave the guards away. “Well, whatever it is, we should expect more of it. This will certainly not be the last attempt, professional or not.”

 

Yuuri bit down hard, images of the man that he had danced with flashing through his mind. Viktor Nikiforov. A strong, striking name for a strong, striking man. What Mari had said still rang in his head and he’d been close to trying it, but something about it didn’t sit well with him. He’d danced with him, all the while wondering if Viktor’s intentions for getting close was as shallow as gathering information, or if the man had a genuine attraction to him.

 

Whichever it was, Yuuri wouldn’t allow himself to be drowned by the man’s charms.

 

***

 

Yuuri couldn’t sleep that night. Every creak in the floorboard sounded like a sneaking thief, every whisper of wind through the window sounded like a voice. While his family slept peacefully in their beds, Yuuri was listening out for anything.

 

Images of the thief from that evening flashed behind his closed eyelids. It ached at the back of his skull until every detail was heavily ingrained in his memory. The more he thought about it, the more he convinced himself it was just a young kid that was curious about what they were keeping, or someone used as a training bait just to see what their defences were like. He hoped it was the first – that was easily dealt with. But the second, it meant that another attack was soon to come.

 

Yuuri played around with the idea of just letting the thieves in. They wouldn’t find anything, just as his mother had said – it was too well hidden, too obscure. But the idea of allowing a stranger to stalk through their home, it made Yuuri feel sick to think about it.

 

As the sun rose and the birds began to sing, Yuuri blinked his tired eyes. The maids were beginning to ready the house – he could hear their footsteps padding across the thick carpet in the hallway. One in particular, a woman not much older than Yuuri called Yuuko, she liked to hum made-up songs in the morning. She would hum just a little louder as she passed Yuuri’s room, hoping to give him a gentle waking.

 

They had known each other since children, as Yuuko’s mother brought her little daughter to work back when she was a maid. As she grew older, Yuuko took over and became an unofficial personal maid of Yuuri’s. He didn’t mind, he liked Yuuko. She was quick, bubbly and loud, but she was a comfort and a calm in the house for when Yuuri needed it.

 

She had her own children now, bouncy triplets. The father was another servant of the house, a man that had also grown up with Yuuri. He was Mari’s servant – Yuuri thought that was dangerous as they both had very strong personalities. Competitions always raged between them, some entertaining and others ending in broken vases in the hallways.

 

Yuuko’s humming came closer. Yuuri listened to it, trying to memorise the notes today. It was unfamiliar, made as Yuuko walked, completely changing to how she wanted it to be. It stopped as she stood in front of Yuuri’s door and a knock followed soon after.

 

“Come in,” Yuuri called, sitting up in his bed. He could feel the lack of sleep – it showed itself in the pain at the back of his eyes, and the heaviness in his shoulders. He rubbed his eyes, flinching at the pressure.

 

Yuuko popped her head around the doorway. “You look tired Yuuri.”

 

“I am. I didn’t sleep.”

 

Yuuko came in with fresh towels, setting them down on his drawers. “Why not?”

 

She looked just as bouncy as she always did. Even with three children, and even a husband that could be like a child himself, she never seemed tired. Her big eyes were always shining, always quick.

 

“Did you hear about what happened last night?”

 

Yuuko frowned. “About the attempted theft? Yeah. He cut Mari, didn’t he?”

 

“It wasn’t a big cut. Mari insisted she was okay.”

 

“She would.” Yuuko sat on the edge of his bed, looking at him in the gentle way that only a close friend could. Years’ worth of concern was glittering in her eyes, a new layer added now that she saw Yuuri like this. “Did you spend the whole night convincing yourself that there were more outside or even in the house?”

 

Yuuri couldn’t answer. He glanced away. If anyone could read him nearly as well as Yuuko could, then he would be doomed to forever be an open book. He supposed she just had that many years training, and the fact that she saw herself as his second older sister.

 

“Yuuri,” she sighed. “You really remind me of my three sometimes.”

 

“Do you mean they remind you of me?”

 

“Either way, you’re both children.” She ran her fingers through Yuuri’s fringe, a comforting gesture she often did. “There were guards out last night. Do you think they can’t do a good job?”

 

“It’s not that. I think they’re good, otherwise mum and dad wouldn’t hire them. But if someone is a really good thief, they can get in without being detected. You hear about some of these people who were robbed weeks before they even noticed.”

 

“But you know what they’re after, so you can look to make sure it’s there every day. You’d notice if it’s gone.”

 

“But I don’t want to check on it every day, just in case someone is watching me and figures it out.”

 

Yuuko sighed and flopped back on the bed, bouncing against Yuuri’s legs. “That’s true. Then the longer you stay away from it, the better it’s hidden.”

 

“Exactly.”

 

“I’m glad I’m not in a rich family like you. Why do all the rich families have something to hide?”

 

Yuuri could think of a few reasons. Boredom. Money. Too much time on their hands. The attention. Meanwhile, the Katsukis just wanted to be quiet and live life, attend only the things they absolutely had to, and enjoy the company of people that they actually liked. And yet one little rumour and all of that had been blown out of the water.

 

“I don’t know. I could get all philosophical about it, if you wanted.”

 

Yuuko groaned, slamming her hand down on the cover. “No, it’s fine. Let’s leave it at that. And you, Mister, could use this time to go for a nap.”

 

Yuuri began to rise, but Yuuko’s weight on his legs was keeping him down. “I’m fine, I think I need to go-”

 

Yuuko spread herself wider, stopping Yuuri from moving at all. “No, you need to stay here and sleep. I’ll explain to your family what happened, so go to sleep.”

 

“I really think-”

 

“Think about sleeping. It’s sunny outside. Thefts don’t happen when it’s light.”

 

That wasn’t entirely true, Yuuri thought, but he kept it to himself. Now that Yuuko was repeating the word ‘sleep’, it was making it harder to Yuuri to resist. He lay back slightly, finding it harder to sit up as the weight of the world bowed on him. Before he could think any more, he was already asleep.

 

***

 

To distract himself, Yuuri walked through the town. He strayed from the high-end shops, away from where the rich families would run into him.

 

He took the time to himself to calm down, to stop himself from thinking that he should be home guarding. Instead, he walked slowly down the streets, peering into shop windows. The streets were filled with the smell of cooking food, heavy between the crowds. It sent shivers up Yuuri’s spine and reminded him of his rumbling stomach.

 

He settled down at one of the stools at the outside bar, browsing over the menu. Everything called out to him and everything made his mouth water, so much so that the world around him melted away and the worries at the back of his head faded. He passed on his order and his food was out in five minutes.

 

The first mouthful was always the most delicious. There was nothing like food on an empty stomach, especially after having smelled it for minutes. It burst at the back of his mouth, sending shivers along his shoulders.

 

He was halfway through the bowl of food when he noticed that there was someone sitting next to him. He paused and glanced to the side.

 

Viktor sat on the stool over, leaning his elbow on the table and resting his head in his hand. There was a soft smile on his lips as he stared at Yuuri. “Please, don’t let me disturb you. Carry on enjoying that food.”

 

Yuuri leaned back and wiped his mouth, now convinced that his face was covered in food. He almost blushed in embarrassment. “Viktor. It was Viktor, right?”

 

If the man was irked by his question, he didn’t show it. Instead, his eyes seemed to glimmer brighter at being given attention. “Yes. And you are Yuuri.”

 

“What are you doing here, Viktor?” Yuuri asked. He took another forkful, this time at a slower pace.

 

“I was just having a stroll and I happened to see you here.”

 

Yuuri wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t believe it. Maybe it was his suspicion of Viktor’s real job, though the more time he spent with Viktor it was dwindling. He hadn’t asked anything about the treasure and seemed genuinely interested in Yuuri, something he hadn’t come across for years. “I would have thought you’d take a stroll on the rich side of town. They have some nice shops there, things that could go with the suit you wore to the party.”

 

“I have more than enough and I spend too much as is. I don’t mind missing out on a day of shopping though if I get to see you enjoying something.”

 

“Ever the flirt, I see,” Yuuri said, a hint of a smile pulling on the side of his face that Viktor couldn’t see.

 

“Only for you, Yuuri,” Viktor replied. He deepened his voice, eyes gazing harder at Yuuri.

 

He’d be lying if he said it didn’t excite him. To have someone like Viktor, someone as gorgeous and so fitting of his ideal type clearly chasing after him, Yuuri, the boy that thought himself plain, was a dream come true. It was stained slightly with his initial suspicions of the man, but it was slowly fading away. Mari had said to play with him – Yuuri didn’t think that was right, but perhaps he could do it in some way. Perhaps he could take advantage of Viktor’s attentions while he could, before a man as gorgeous as him might turn his interest somewhere else. Bathe in Viktor’s gaze, accept his flirting words while he could.

 

“Am I that special?” he asked, adding a teasing lilt to the question when he was asking seriously. He’d never been special before, not to anyone but his family.

 

“You’re very special,” Viktor said and the honesty in his words had Yuuri almost frozen. “I knew it from the moment I saw you. You stand out.”

 

“No one has ever used those words to describe me before.”

 

“What have they used?”

 

It would never be easy to get used to the fact that Viktor seemed genuinely interested. He didn’t just ask because it was polite to, but because he actually wanted to know the answer. The intensity almost had Yuuri turning away. “Plain and boring. They say I’m invisible, doing the exact opposite of standing out.”

 

“They’re wrong.”

 

“They’re shallow.”

 

The words had Viktor smirking. “That too. Just a few conversations here and there at the party and I was ready to leave.”

 

“Why didn’t you?”

 

“Because you were still there. I wanted one dance with you before I left.”

 

Yuuri’s heart skipped a beat. He clutched the front of his shirt, unable to stop himself. “That’s sweet of you.” There was probably a blush on his face. He could feel it burning underneath his skin almost painfully, tightening his cheeks.

 

“You said you trained in ballet,” Viktor continued, unaware of the effect it was having on Yuuri. Or perhaps he knew exactly what it was doing to him, Yuuri thought. Maybe that was why he had that sparkle in his eye, or why his lips were pulling into a smirk, or why he was moving closer to Yuuri’s side until their knees were almost touching. “Do you still do it often?”

 

“Not as often as I would like. I don’t have the time, not while I’m helping my parents run their spa business.”

 

“That’s a shame. Ballet dancers are meant to be pretty flexible, aren’t they?”

 

Yuuri glared at Viktor, sure that it was meant to be some lewd comment, but the man feigned innocence as he leaned his head to the side. “Yes, we have to be. I’m sure I’ve lost some of that ability though.”

 

“I’d love for you to teach me some moves. You must be pretty agile and quiet on your feet. Those are pretty good skills to have.”

 

“In what field?” Yuuri laughed. He doubted it could work for him, unless there was a particular customer in the spa that was being a nuisance. Perhaps then he could sneak up and surprise them.

 

Viktor shrugged, though it seemed as though he wanted to say more. “In a lot of things, I suppose.”

 

Yuuri rolled his eyes. Viktor seemed to be getting stranger and stranger with every interaction, and yet he wasn’t losing his shine in Yuuri’s eyes. He was just as intriguing. Something about him commanded all of Yuuri’s attention, and he was giving it to Viktor willingly. “I suppose.”

 

Viktor glanced around quickly, gaze lingering on the crowds and the stalls around them. “I was going to take a look around the city today. I wanted to explore the city my cousin loves so much. Say, I could really use a tour guide.”

 

It was left at such an open ended thing that Yuuri knew immediately what he was hinting at. His first response was no, he wasn’t going to play a tour guide for a bored man. But then he thought of how it was going to distract him. He’d been looking for a distraction. And if he suspected Viktor as someone trying to get close to him because of the rumours, then maybe an afternoon with the man would help him come to a conclusion. Mari’s advice rang in his mind. “Okay.”

 

Even Viktor seemed surprised. “Okay?”

 

“Okay.”

 

He jumped, as if he was worried that Yuuri was going to change his mind. He grabbed Yuuri’s hand, pulling him from his chair, and linked their arms together. “Then please, show me all of you wonders.”

 

***

 

Yuuri didn’t want to admit it, but it was fun. It was the distraction he needed. Viktor was good conversation, even if half of it was just flirting words. The time passed quickly and Yuuri soon found himself reaching the end of their night.

 

The sky was growing dark, painted streaks of dark blues and black, the stars peeking through the twilight. The street lamps burned bright, illuminating the emptying roads. They hadn’t said anything about their day coming to an end yet, but it was getting too late to do anything. The constant conversation between them faded into silence as they ambled around the town.

 

Yuuri wasn’t sure what he was feeling, but perhaps there was a little bit of reluctance somewhere. Viktor was still a strange case to him, but it had changed some. Everything about Viktor intrigued him, from the way he spoke, to the way he moved, to the way he looked at Yuuri as if everything Yuuri did was intriguing to him too. Yuuri wasn’t used to that at all. He found himself wanting to be the object of that gaze for longer.

 

It was Viktor who brought things to an end though. He stopped in the middle of the street, a hand gently touching Yuuri’s arm to stop him too.

 

Yuuri turned to see Viktor perfectly illuminated underneath the lamps. It almost stopped his heart entirely. Viktor’s hand was still on Yuuri’s arm, the touch hot against his clothes. Yuuri didn’t pull away.

 

“It’s getting dark,” Viktor said. “I probably should let you get going.”

 

“Yeah,” Yuuri agreed, though his answer was lacklustre.

 

“It’s been wonderful speaking to you, Yuuri,” Viktor said, sounding more genuine than Yuuri expected him to be. “I’d love to be able to do it again, if you’re willing?”

 

The answer came faster than Yuuri expected. He nodded. “That sounds wonderful, Viktor.”

 

It brought a wide smile to Viktor’s face, like the sun was shining in his expression. “Wonderful. I’ll see you soon, Yuuri.” He turned and vanished down the street, an odd skip in his step.

 

Yuuri was left watching. He felt an odd loneliness as soon as Viktor was gone. After a day of chatter filling every second, it was too quiet, too empty. Before he had time to think too much about that, he turned and walked back home.

 

***

 

It was another difficult night. After the previous thief attempt, the guards marched the house grounds. They had once been subtle and few, the Katsuki family fearing that such a presence might take away what made their family normal. Having guards parading around the house screamed that they had something to hide.

 

Now it wasn’t a choice. Yuuri’s father insisted that they be there, fearing for his family after finding out about Mari’s cut. It might have been small, something that would heal in a few days, but it was different from how they’d been living up to now.

 

Yuuri watched the guards as they stormed by his window. There weren’t too many and he knew them all by name, but it didn’t calm him. Their peace was disturbed. The sudden change would bring more thieves from all over the place, the mystery of whatever they were keeping calling to them.

 

It was going to be dangerous. He’d need to figure out something else. As it stood, he was the only one who knew where the item was. He thought that it was the safest way to keep it, but he knew there was one fatal flaw to that. He kept that close to heart.

 

There was something moving in the trees.

 

He saw it move by quickly. Just a darker shape against dark, a flash of a shadow. It could have been an animal. It could have been the shadows of the clouds rolling through the sky and obscuring the moon.

 

Or it could have been someone.

 

Yuuri was up and running through the halls before he knew what he was doing. He wasn’t sure what help he was going to be, not without a weapon or without alerting the guards, but that didn’t occur to him until he was already outside and racing towards the treeline.

 

The shadow was still moving across the shadows. He could see it quivering, not subtle. He wondered if it was the inexperienced thief from before or a new one.

 

Then he saw something smaller scuttling across the fallen leaves. No, not something. Three little things. His face broke into a grin.

 

Phichit was hiding behind a tree trunk, the glare of his screen illuminating his face until it almost shone blue. He didn’t see Yuuri until Yuuri was almost a foot away from him. He chocked back a scream.

 

“Yuuri! What are you doing?” he demanded, leaning down to gather up his little hamsters from where they were happily munching on a fallen nut.

 

“I should be asking you that.”

 

Phichit placed his phone in his pocket and grinned at his oldest friend. “I wanted to come and see you. I saw the guards though and got intimidated, then got distracted on my phone.”

 

“It’s in the middle of the night, Phichit. You should be asleep, or at least at home.”

 

The younger boy glanced to the sky, as if he hadn’t even noticed how late it had gotten. “Oh, yeah. Anyway, what’s with all the guards? Has someone else tried breaking in?”

 

Yuuri wanted to ask how Phichit knew about the first, but kept it to himself. Phichit was the king of gossip and social in the town, sending his own little web of spies out to gather gossip for him. He never intended bad things with the information, only to satisfy his desire for it. In Yuuri’s case, it was useful to have a friend like it. “No, nothing yet. It’s been quite quiet actually.”

 

“Preparing for another though?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Phichit glanced over Yuuri’s features, as if searching for something, before he glanced down to the hamsters in his arms. “I could set up a network. You know I could do a lot for you, you know. I could have people watching. I could-”

 

“Phichit, no,” Yuuri said gently. They’d had this conversation many times, but it was more prominent now than it had ever been. Phichit wanted to help, but Yuuri would not accept it. He didn’t need more rumours spreading about him, especially not the type that circled around his younger friend. “Thank you, but no.”

 

“I’ll keep feelers out just in case. Maybe someone will know if another theft will be coming.”

 

“Well, I can’t stop you.”

 

Phichit grinned. “You know me so well, Yuuri.” He paused, his grin pulling into more of a wicked smirk. “Talking about my spies, one mentioned how you spent the whole day with a mysterious man today, someone they hadn’t seen before.”

 

Yuuri avoided his best friend’s gaze. He could feel Phichit staring, the grin still frozen in his mind, but he tried to ignore it.

 

“Yuuri, why didn’t you tell me anything? Who is this man?”

 

“Just someone,” Yuuri replied, flinching. He knew that sounded bad. It was almost as if he had ‘liar’ written all over his face. “I mean, someone that I met at Kenjirou’s party. We ran into each other in town.”

 

“And spent the whole day together?”

 

“Just how long were your spies following me?” Yuuri asked, narrowing his eyes at Phichit.

 

“I don’t know. I don’t tell them to do anything. They just find interesting things and let me know.” He tapped his phone against his lips, drawing Yuuri’s attention to the small box that probably held all of the secrets in the town. “They must have found what you were doing interesting. Tell me, Yuuri, did you enjoy it?”

 

He couldn’t keep the blush from his face.

 

Phichit burst out into thunderous applause, waking the slumbering hamsters on his shoulders. “So it’s like _that._ How many times did you two meet? What’s he like? Is he treating you well?”

 

“Phichit, it’s nothing like that. We ran into each other and I showed him around town-”

 

“Oh, so he’s not from around here? A mysterious foreigner. Wow Yuuri, you’re falling right into a cheesy romance novel or something.”

 

Yuuri rolled his eyes, almost unable to keep the smile from his face. “It’s not like that. Yes, he’s been flirting, but-”

 

Phichit’s eyes widened and Yuuri knew he had made a mistake. “He’s been _flirting?_ Oh my god Yuuri. Apparently he’s hot too. Go you! I need to see this guy.”

 

“Yes, he’s been flirting. I mean, just like a few winks here, saying he wants my time and stuff. I don’t really think it’s serious. I think maybe he’s bored while he’s here or something.” Because no one ever showed an interest in Yuuri. There was someone, once, but that was years ago. A mistake.

 

“Hey, you’ve been bored too. What’s wrong with relieving a little bit of boredom?” Phichit leaned forwards, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

 

“You’re starting to sound like Mari. She said to play with him too.”

 

“Wise woman. If he’s from another town, he’s likely going to leave soon, right? So maybe it’s worth playing a little while he’s here.”

 

Yuuri didn’t like how it sat though. It was harsh enough when he thought Viktor was only after his family’s rumour. After their shared day, that had changed. He felt guilty, but there was still something at the back of his mind reminding him of how Viktor had appeared just as the rumour had spread.

 

He glanced to his best friend. He was almost tempted to ask Phichit to look it up. His best friend could find it easily. It would take only a day, perhaps less, and Yuuri would have what he wanted. Everything about Viktor could come to the surface, all of his doubts would come to light or be submerged in truth. Every question he had about the other man would have its answer. All he had to do was ask Phichit.

 

But he didn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that this is so late in the day! Basically, as always, real life got in the way... My short shift at work ended up being a lot longer than I expected and I just got home... But here it is anyway! It's still technically Thursday! haha 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it! 
> 
> If you want to keep up to date then you can find me on tumble   
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	5. For The Wrong Reasons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by the dazzling whynikkiwhy

Viktor organised the meeting as he had always organised meetings before – discreetly, hidden out of the way, and in a disguise. The wig atop of his head was thick and curly, boasting a bright blonde underneath a red hat and framing black sunglasses. The clothes he wore were not clothes he would have liked to wear, with none of the labels he favourited, but they were a necessity.

 

She walked through the café door and Viktor knew it was her immediately. She was a young woman, perhaps late twenties with long bouncy brown hair styled perfectly. Her makeup was beautiful, light, obviously with hours spent on it. Her clothes were just as immaculately chosen, with not a wrinkle and every part of it in the place she wanted it to be.

 

Viktor disliked her instantly.

 

She recognised him from his instructions, telling her he’d be wearing sunglasses and a red hat. She waved and walked over in a sway that waved her hips, a way she thought was attractive. Fake all around, too much time spent on appearance for the pleasure of others. He recognised the bag she had, knowing the label it was before it flashed against the sunlight. How could an ex-maid afford such things?

 

She sat opposite him and blinked her long eyelashes at him. From over the table, she extended her hand for a shake. “Hello. I believe we’ve spoken over the phone?”

 

Her voice already annoyed him. He tried not to let it show on his face. “Yes, we did. Thank you for accompanying me today.”

 

Her hand was there for too long. It repulsed him. When she did move away, she said, “It’s a pleasure. So, shall we get on with it? My name is…”

 

Viktor didn’t really pay attention. Whatever name it was that she said, he didn’t hear. He had no patience for her already. But he had to. He had to listen to her. No matter how much he wanted to be beside Yuuri, to dance with him and listen to all his laughter and watch as his eyes brighten, he had to be here.

 

“I have a few questions for you regarding your previous job.”

 

The woman lit up, as if it was a subject she loved to speak about. It caused a conflict inside of Viktor. She said, “That’s a really interesting topic. What do you want to know?”

 

“How long were you working with the Katsuki family?”

 

“I’d been with them since I was twenty-one. So seven years.”

 

“And what did you think of it?”

 

The woman rolled her eyes. “Boring. I worked with another family before that, and they had secrets spilling from every room. The Katsukis though, there wasn’t anything interesting about them. The parents went out to do their job and came back once it was finished. The children spent most of their time going to town and spending time with their friends or helping their parents. There wasn’t anything secret, not at first. No late night visitors, no lies, no hatred, no fraud. It was the most boring seven years of my life.”

 

How could anyone call anything related to Yuuri boring? Viktor didn’t understand it. Rather, he found the families with poorly hidden secrets boring, because they were all the same. They all had something priceless that was meant to be a mystery, but in truth it had been gossiped about and was easy enough to steal. It was the same family, same formula, same thing every time.

 

He asked, “Then why didn’t you leave?”

 

“Because they paid well, and one of the cooks was good looking.”

 

“Right. Well, can you tell me about the circumstances surrounding your leave then. You were fired, am I right?”

 

The air around the woman seemed to darken. She rolled her eyes again and flipped her hair. “Every family has a secret. I knew the Katsukis weren’t any different. But I didn’t find anything for the longest time. I knew something was different though. Do you know Mari and Yuuri? They’re the children.”

 

Viktor nodded. “What about them?”

 

“I found out they were being given self-defence lessons. I don’t know why, it’s not really a thing rich kids go through. They’d been going since they were small, but they were pretending it was some sports class.”

 

“Why would they need that?”

 

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought it was suspicious. I thought maybe the parents did something or they owed money or whatever. But I started paying more attention then. Things became clearer.”

 

She paused and Viktor waited, growing more impatient with each and every second. If she was doing it for dramatic effect, it was annoying him more. He waved his hand as a sign to continue.

 

“Well, see, some of the older servants that were working there for years had these secret meetings. At the end of every Monday, they met up with the family and they had subjects that they spoke about. I only managed to listen to one, but it was just about what the guards had seen during the day, which was nothing.” Her whole body moved when she spoke. She fidgeted, swayed her shoulders, tipped her head so that the light could cascade over her best angles. Viktor wanted to walk out but knew he couldn’t. “They were talking about the library and the father’s study. They said they were secure. Clearly that meant something was hiding there, so I went searching.”

 

A flash of memory laced through Viktor’s mind. He remembered that first night he had met Yuuri – or seen him, to be more accurate. Yuuri, moving around secretly, searching through his father’s study. Papers. He had been looking through his father’s papers. But for a family that had managed to keep a secret for so long, why would it be so openly displayed on a table? Why would Yuuri be searching as if he wasn’t allowed to see?

 

“Did you find anything?” he asked.

 

“Not before Mari caught me.” The woman leaned back, all seduction gone, replaced by annoyance. It was a tough subject, clearly. “I tried for months to figure things out. I found the employees that knew something and I stuck close to them. I asked them things, I followed them. They’re all pretty secretive though. I didn’t hear anything, so I looked by myself.”

 

The first thing Viktor thought was _sloppy_. This woman was no thief and she would never make a thief. No wonder she had been found out and fired.

 

“I tried to listen into their meetings too but they changed location or changed day or something, I don’t know. I didn’t see them doing it again,” she said. “But see, something happened one night. I had to stay for a night shift to help clean in preparation for a party the next day. I saw the family going into the library. They should have been asleep, but they were sneaking around their own home. They looked like they were rushing too.”

 

“In the library?” The original rumour had said that whatever the treasure was, it was hidden in the library. He had checked the whole thing from top to bottom and he hadn’t found anything, but he suspected they had moved it. An idea sparked. “How many times have you cleaned the library?”

 

The woman waved the comment away. “In all my years there? Probably thousands of times.”

 

“Would you say you know the library well?”

 

She bit the side of her lip, not quite caught up to where Viktor was going. “Yes? Why?”

 

“How long were they in the library?”

 

“I don’t… I don’t really know?”

 

Sloppy. Viktor wanted to punch the table in frustration, but he didn’t. He waited and urged her on. “You must have some sort of idea, right?”

 

“I’d probably say like ten minutes?”

 

“And did they leave with anything?”

 

She stared hard at the table in thought, her mouth hanging open. “No. No, I don’t think they did.”

 

“Did you check after them?” He couldn’t help it, but he was getting excited. He could feel his heart hammering, his mind straying back to the library. He would love to have a picture of the library from a few years ago and a whole afternoon to explore it. Memorise every little detail, play a game of ‘what’s missing?’.

 

“Yes. When they left, I took a quick peek.”

 

“Was anything missing? Was anything moved out of place? Any sounds you heard when you were waiting for them to leave?”

 

If she was overwhelmed with his questions, she didn’t say it. Instead, it seemed to bring a small smile to the corner of her mouth. “Enjoying this, are you?” She cupped her cheek and rested her elbow against the table, eyes blinking slowly. “No, there wasn’t anything missing. Nothing was moved out of place. And most of the rooms in that house are soundproof, so I didn’t hear anything.”

 

His reaction might have excited her, but her words dulled the feeling for him. “How sure are you that nothing was moved or taken?”

 

“Very sure. Why? Do you think the family would keep something so precious out in the middle of a library? They invite many of their guests to that room. Not very secretive of them.”

 

And not very expected. Treasures were found by being kept a secret. Hide something in plain sight, and it would likely be overlooked forever. Viktor knew about it well enough. “No, you’re right,” he said, unable to keep the annoyance from his voice.

 

“I think they just went in there for a meeting or something.”

 

Eager to move on the conversation, he said, “So, you were caught by Mari. When and How?”

 

“It was the next day actually. I went looking through the library again. She walked in and-”

 

“Do you know what for?”

 

She huffed. “No. I don’t know why. I mean, it’s her house. She probably just wanted to read or something.”

 

Viktor doubted it. Mari didn’t seem the type to enjoy the library, not from the things he had read about her or what Yuuri had told him. “She walked in and…”

 

“She saw me looking around for things. I told her the truth when she asked. I said I knew she was keeping something. I told her I knew all rich families had something. They couldn’t be any different.”

 

Viktor leaned back, chewing the inside of his cheek. He really didn’t like this woman, and every word she said was just feeding that feeling. “What did you do?”

 

“I said that I wanted money for silence. Clearly they wanted to keep it a secret, so it was good blackmail.” She paused, her hand clenching into a fist on the table. “I mean, it doesn’t even matter if I knew what it was anyway. As long as I spread rumours about it, their reputation was destroyed anyway. Rumours make lies by themselves. But she fired me, right there and then on the spot.”

 

She was growing angrier with every word. He could see it in her eyes. They were no longer looking at him but over his shoulder, bright with underlying bitterness.

 

“They got the guards to escort me off of the land, and someone grabbed my things and threw them to me. I was told to never come back, and that I’d be paid that month’s wages before I was cut off.” She ground her teeth. “They could have just bought my silence. And now they have all the rich families ostracising them, or only trying to get close to get to know what they’re hiding. Someone tried breaking in the other night. Firing me was a mistake.”

 

Viktor faltered. “Someone tried breaking in?”

 

“Yeah. A thief with a knife. Cut Mari a little, but the bitch is alright.”

 

“What happened to them?”

 

She shrugged. “I think they ran away. I don’t know.”

 

Viktor tried to breathe through the panic. He wasn’t sure where it had come from, what it was he was really scared of. For just a moment, he felt relieved that Yuuri hadn’t been hurt, but there was also a relief that no one else had been able to find what the family was hiding. He swallowed hard, casting thoughts to something more distracting.

 

He guessed that other groups would rise upon the gossip. He wasn’t stupid enough to think that their group would be the only ones out for the Katsukis. He just didn’t expect other thieves so soon, and certainly not armed.

 

They spoke a little more, but Viktor didn’t get anything important. As their conversation began to filter onto less interesting subjects, she pushed harder for more attention from him. She hinted that she wanted money for the information, but he waved it off and ended their conversation.

 

There would be more coming, he thought. Now that the gossip was out, there would be more thieves rising to get whatever the Katsukis were keeping. The appeal of the mystery would draw them, as it had done with him.

 

He cast that thought away and thought about the library as he slowly strode through the streets. He was sure that there was something the ex-maid was missing. When asked, she said nothing had gone missing or had been moved, but he didn’t believe that. Perhaps something had been replaced. Perhaps it was small enough for the family to hide it underneath clothes while they left the room.

 

The lack of information both excited and frustrated him.

 

His phone began to ring in his pocket. He picked it up without looking.

 

“ _How did it go?”_

“Hello, Yakov. It’s such a lovely day, isn’t it?”

 

“ _How did the meeting go, Vitya?”_

“It went about as well as I was hoping. Meaning, not very well. I have a suspicion, but nothing concrete.”

 

“ _You mean you weren’t able to get anything from a maid that worked there for seven years?”_

“I mean she was useless. She had some sort of vendetta against the family. She was heavily biased.”

 

_“Right. What is the suspicion?”_

“The rumour she spread said it was in the library. She saw them the night before she was fired. They came out of the library, sneaking in their own house. She said they didn’t come out with anything, and that nothing had moved.”

 

Yakov was quiet for a moment, his breathing slow against Viktor’s ear. After a moment, he heard the papers on the man’s desk being flicked through and the older man hummed to himself. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally asked, _“And you think it’s still in the library?”_

 

“No, I think they moved it.”

 

Yakov couldn’t contain one low hum of laughter. _“But you said they left with nothing, and she said nothing was missing.”_

Viktor knew that voice. Yakov had already reached his own conclusion, but he was testing him. Viktor glanced around and snuck into the mouth of an alley, voice low as he whispered, “Nothing would be noticed as missing if it was small enough. They could hide it under their clothing if it was small enough to overlook. Or, say, what if it was a book? Perfect place to hide it. No one notices a book missing, no one thinks it could be anything important. That could be easily hid underneath loose clothing.”

 

_“You need to find a way to compare the before and after. Maybe there are pictures, or someone else you can ask.”_

“If it is a book, it’s going to take a long time to find it,” Viktor huffed, already feeling stressed at the idea. Thousands of books, moved around all the time. Even with a picture, everything would be so out of place it would be difficult to find them all and notice one missing. Perhaps even if there was one missing, it was just in someone’s room. “I hope it’s not a book.”

 

_“You asked for a challenge. I gave you a challenge.”_

“Okay, okay.” He paused, biting the inside of his cheek. “Yakov, have you sent out a claim yet?”

 

_“For this? Yes. Why?”_

“Has anyone else done it too?”

 

_“No. We’re the only group to do it. No other claims have come.”_

“Someone else tried to break in the other day. Apparently they were armed. They attacked the daughter.”

 

_“We knew others would be coming, Vitya.”_

“I know. But are you sure we’re the only ones to claim this job?”

 

_“I’ll keep an eye out. So far, we are the only ones.”_

“As soon as another claim rises, let me know.”

 

_“I will. I need to go now, Viktor. I have a meeting with a potential buyer. Good luck.”_

Viktor said goodbye and hung up, feeling uneasy. No claim. No other groups rising. Yet someone had attacked. Someone inexperienced if Viktor had to guess. Someone clumsy enough to be caught, a thief stupid enough to bring a knife.

 

He moved from the mouth of the alley, glancing around to make sure that no one had seen, and melted in with a passing crowd. Instead he decided to concentrate on what Yakov had said, on finding someone who would know the library from top to bottom, someone who would notice even a book that had gone missing.

 

A few came to mind. The first being Yuuri, though he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. 

 

***

 

Viktor wanted to check the house again. He was itching to break in, to search the library and see if anything had been moved. There were always signs – dust that hadn’t been cleaned, a stain in wood that was burned in by sun-bleaching, scrapes along a floor. If something was moved, it took care to get rid of all evidence.

 

But the Katsukis would be on high alert. After one attempted break in with an attack on their daughter, Viktor didn’t need to be there to know there would be guards walking around. Though he knew he could sneak his way in without their notice, Yuuri’s image flashed in his mind. His frail beginnings of a relationship stopped him. He wanted to convince himself that he didn’t want to be caught by Yuuri because it would be bad for the mission, but he was quickly coming to the conclusion that it wasn’t that.

 

Yuuri’s beauty had captivated him to begin with. But now it was more than that. Yuuri’s laugh made his heart ache, his smile made Viktor want to see it more, and his company brought something to Viktor that he had never experienced before. He had friends. He had what was as close to a family as he had ever had in Yakov’s thieves, perhaps more than even a standard family – they might not have been related, but they chose one another. Yuuri was different. Yuuri was warm. Yuuri was something Viktor already found himself wanting to hold.

 

The best way he could explain it would be the same feeling he got with a rare treasure, something that brought out a possession in him, something that made him want to cherish it. That was what Yuuri was to him already. He didn’t know if it was a passing fancy or something he should be wary of, but it was there, at the back of his mind.

 

So, he didn’t break in. Not yet. Instead, he called his best friend out for a drink.

 

Chris was already at the bar before Viktor arrived. He was sitting at the back of the bar, a man hanging around him. Viktor didn’t need to look at Chris’ face to realise he wanted nothing to do with his admirer.

 

Viktor pushed his way through, subtly standing himself between Chris and the stranger. He smiled politely. “Hello,” he greeted. “Do we know you?”

 

Though the man was trying to stay calm, Viktor noticed the tension in his muscles. He glanced back down to Chris before his eyes met Viktor’s. “No. I was just keeping your friend company.”

 

“He was waiting for me,” Viktor replied. “I’m here now. Thank you, but he doesn’t need your company anymore.”

 

He seemed like he wanted to argue, and while he was taller than Viktor, something about Viktor’s expression must have driven him away. He turned with a glare and moved to the other side of the bar. With a sigh, Viktor sat himself opposite his best friend.

 

“Chris, why?”

 

Rather than shaken, Chris looked more amused than anything. He had his legs crossed and was leaning back in his chair, a grin widening on his face. “What can I say? I just attract them.”

 

“Attract someone less sleazy.”

 

“I’d love to. I’d love to attract a nice strong man. Tall. Muscular. Dark hair. Handsome. Kind.” Chris sighed, fiddling with the straw leaning on the glass of his drink. “Alas, there isn’t anyone like that around here.”

 

Deciding not to discuss Chris’ choice of language throughout that sentence, Viktor said, “Someone will come.”

 

“I need someone to control me.”

 

Viktor grinned. “I don’t think anyone could do that.”

 

Chris grinned back. “You mean, you wouldn’t want anyone to do that.”

 

“You? Controlled? I think I’m more likely to turn ginger.”

 

Chris tilted his head to the side as if imagining it. “Aw, but I’d miss your silver hair.”

 

“Platinum.”

 

“Grey.”

 

“Platinum.”

 

“Old man.”

 

Viktor breathed in through his nose. “This old man could leave at any point, you know.”

 

Chris grabbed his hand to stop him from leaving, though his eyes sparkled in tease. “Alright, alright. I’ll stop. How has your job been going?” At Viktor’s silence, he asked, “That well?”

 

“Have you heard anything from Yakov?”

 

“From Yakov? No. From Georgi and Mila over a morning coffee? I might have heard a little.”

 

Viktor rolled his eyes. He should have known. He leaned his elbows on the table and rested his head in his hands. “What do you know?”

 

“I know that Viktor Nikiforov, best thief in Yakov’s band, got bored and begged Yakov for a new job. You were given a seemingly impossible mission and you snapped it up without a second thought.” Chris took a sip of his drink, lifting the straw up and throwing it away. If Viktor had to make a guess, he’d say it was wine in the glass. “Have you made it less impossible of a job?”

 

“No. I still don’t know what it is.”

 

Chris’ eyes shot up. “How long has it been since you accepted it? A few days? Viktor, you’re making slow work.”

 

“It’s proven to be more difficult than I expected it to be.”

 

Chris didn’t seem to believe it. “What part of it?”

 

“They’ve been so secretive that I’ve not had any leads of what it might be.”

 

“Not even where it might be?”

 

“I think it was in the library, but it’s been moved. I also think it’s small enough to hide under clothing or even just if it’s held to the chest. I spoke to the ex-maid and she told me the things she saw.”

 

“When did you speak to her?”

 

“Today.”

 

Chris narrowed his eyes. “Only today? Why not earlier?”

 

Viktor didn’t want to say it was because he was distracted. “I couldn’t get in touch with her.”

 

Chris still didn’t believe it. Another grin pulled at his lips. “Mila also told me you were in touch with the Katsuki son. What was his name again? Yudi? Yura?”

 

“Yuuri.”

 

“No wonder Yuri was pissed off. Georgi said it took him ages to calm the kid down. They also told me you seem quite fond of this boy.”

 

There was nothing he could keep from Chris. They’d been friends too long. Even if Chris hadn’t been told, Viktor knew it would come out somehow. Just one small change in his expression, Chris would ask about it and the whole story would come out. “He is good company.”

 

“You rarely say that anyone’s company is good company – besides mine of course,” Chris teased, his smile contagious. “What about him has you so infatuated?”

 

“I am not infatuated,” Viktor argued, leaning back in his chair. “And he isn’t like other people. He doesn’t speak to me to get something out of it. In fact, it seems more like he _doesn’t_ want to talk to me.”

 

“Someone finally isn’t taken in by your charms?”

 

“He definitely likes how I look. I’ve seen how he looks at me. But he doesn’t want anything out of our conversations. He actually seems interested in what I say. He doesn’t pressure. It feels more…” Viktor was at a loss of how to describe it. He was always used to people approaching him because of his looks, pressuring him into a conversation and trying to fit him into a character they had already created him to be before they’d spoken to him. It was always the same surface, the same wall. But something about the way Yuuri spoke to him was deeper. “It feels more real.”

 

Chris nodded. “That poses a problem though. You know you have to steal off of this guy, right?”

 

Viktor rolled his eyes, but the words struck him. Yuuri’s smile was something he wanted to see shine over and over again, and yet he knew stealing what he had come for from Yuuri would do the exact opposite. Yuuri, the man that had been so suspicious at first, slowly, very slowly, becoming comfortable with Viktor – still not quite where Viktor wanted him to be yet. He was still suspicious, reluctant with him. Viktor didn’t want to think about how right it was that Yuuri was like that.

 

But he had come for it. Viktor didn’t leave a job unfinished. Yuuri was a nice distraction, perhaps a distraction that Viktor wanted to continue, but it wasn’t his primary goal.

 

“Yes, I know. I haven’t lost sight of the mission.”

 

There was something Chris paused at. His gaze flickered over Viktor’s face and the silence stretched until he filled it with wary words. “Then that’s good. Better sooner than later, too, Viktor. Rip the band right off. Both for you and for him.”

 

Perhaps Chris saw what was coming, or he saw something in Viktor that the man himself was trying to push off. Viktor always said that Chris sometimes knew him better than he knew himself. Or perhaps Chris was just being wary.

 

Whatever it was, Viktor didn’t listen. A mistake.

 

***

 

He ran into Yuuri the next day. He wouldn’t say it was on purpose, but perhaps he had been looking out for the other man. He knew from Yuuri’s profile that he didn’t wander town very much, for fear of running into people he didn’t really want to speak to. Those rare occurrences were rarer so now that the rumours had spread.

 

But he still came out once a week to visit some of his parents’ spas to check on how they were running. Having memorised that schedule, Viktor wandered around town. He was window shopping when he saw Yuuri turn the corner.

 

Every single time he saw Yuuri, he was struck by the man’s raw, subtle and real beauty. He knew Yuuri was so unaware of it, but Viktor saw it even in the simple things – how Yuuri walked, how everyone around him couldn’t help but smile, how his skin radiated with natural glow. He was walking with his sister, consumed by their conversation, so much so that he hadn’t noticed Viktor yet.

 

Viktor couldn’t help but feel a little jealous about that.

 

As they walked just beside him, he turned from his window shopping and smiled wide. Yuuri almost walked right by. He changed tactics, calling out Yuuri’s name in surprise as if he had just seen him. “Yuuri!”

 

The younger man finally turned, blinking in surprise. It took a moment for his attention to turn to Viktor, and another moment until he realised what the situation was. When he finally caught up, his lips pulled into a small smile and his eyes sparkled behind the lenses of his glasses. “Viktor. Good morning.”

 

Yuuri’s sister was a little less welcoming. She stared at Viktor over Yuuri’s head through narrowed, scanning eyes. There was a bandage over her hand, reminding Viktor of what the ex-maid had told him.

 

“Isn’t it just?” he asked, glancing up at the clear blue sky. It was a little humid in the air, not the weather he would have preferred, but nice all the same. “I thought it was a nice day to take a walk and explore the town.”

 

“It is.” As Mari coughed behind him, Yuuri gasped. “Oh, sorry. Um, Viktor, this is my sister, Mari. Mari, Viktor.”

 

Usually, Viktor leaned forward for a handshake upon meeting someone, but Mari didn’t seem like she wanted something like that. She nodded her head in greeting and left it at that.

 

Mari quickly whispered something in Yuuri’s ear, to which Yuuri’s cheeks began to burn a low pink. It blushed along his skin, painting his face, and Viktor found himself too distracted to wonder what it was that Mari was whispering about. Yuuri replied in a quick whisper before he turned back to Viktor.

 

“We were just taking a walk around our spas,” he said, that shy smile back. “It’s been a busy day.”

 

Yuuri did look a little tired, Viktor noticed. Not overly so, but his eyes drooped more than they had before. “You deserve to go home and relax. Get a nice meal and kick your feet up.”

 

Yuuri chuckled and it was one of the most beautiful sounds Viktor had ever heard. “I think I will. That sounds like the perfect day.”

 

_It would be more perfect if I was there with you_. “Then I’ll not keep you. Enjoy the rest of your day, Yuuri. Pleasure meeting you, Mari.”

 

Mari didn’t say anything. Instead, she gave one nod again, glancing down at Yuuri quickly.

 

“It was good seeing you, Viktor. See you soon.” The blush was back and as they walked off, Yuuri glanced back once more and gave him a soft smile.

 

Viktor was left in the middle of the street, wondering how a short meeting with the other man had had him pausing, forgetting why he was speaking to him in the first place. He clutched at the shirt before his rapidly beating heart. He accepted this job because it was a challenge. He had underestimated it. For the wrong reasons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOOOH DEVELOPMENT. Both in emotions and plot. What a mix XD
> 
> I've had to update it early today because I'm incredibly busy for the rest of the day. I hope that hasn't caught anyone out too much! But hey, it's still a thursday which is the main point! So far, doing well on the weekly updates haha 
> 
> If you'd to keep up to date, you can find me on tumblr 
> 
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	6. He Could Breathe Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by the super whynikkiwhy

“He’s interesting.”

 

Yuuri glanced at his sister out of the corner of his eye, trying to stop the blush from rising in his cheeks. “Is he?”

 

“You know he is. He certainly had his eye on you,” Mari added, tugging Yuuri down the street. “He hardly ever even looked at me.”

 

“Maybe he was just shy. He doesn’t know you, after all.”

 

“He didn’t know you at the party but he kept looking at you then.” Mari paused, her grip on Yuuri’s arm tightening as she thought about something.

 

Yuuri didn’t disturb her silence. He knew that when she got like this, something serious was crossing her mind and anything he said now would not be heard. He waited patiently before she turned to him.

 

“Has he asked anything about us? Or about the rumours?” she whispered, tone suddenly serious. “Has he seemed a little… too interested?”

 

“Not really,” Yuuri replied, finding it an answer to so many of his own questions. “He’s only asked about it when others have spoken about the rumours. He didn’t ask anything else. He asks me more about me. He… I think he’s just interested in me.”

 

The answer eased Mari some. He knew her fear – he had had the same fear himself.

 

“That’s good. But he knows about the rumours?”

 

“Yes, he does.”

 

“Be wary of that, Yuuri. He might not be interested in them now, but you don’t know about later. People get drawn in at the sound of treasure.”

 

“I’m aware. I’m being careful.”

 

“Otherwise, it would be good to see you going out to play again,” Mari replied, a smile returning to her lips. “He’s very handsome and he’s after you like a puppy.”

 

“What if it gets serious? What if it’s like… before?” Yuuri asked, his voice suddenly small. It was strained against his throat, pressing as if a thousand tiny needles were pressing to the lining of his oesophagus.

 

Mari gave him a gentle and supportive squeeze. “It won’t happen again. You’ve learned from that. You know the warning signs.”

 

Yuuri wanted to agree, but he wasn’t so sure. Looking back, the signs had been so easy to see if he hadn’t been blinded by what he had once thought was love. He hoped it meant he could spot them again, but maybe that was wrong. Viktor didn’t seem the same. He didn’t seem the type to lead Yuuri on with a hidden intention. But who knew? Who knew who Viktor really was?

 

“It’ll be okay,” Mari assured. “You’re stronger. And I’m around this time. If he has a hidden agenda, I’ll make sure his balls are ripped from him and glued to his chin.”

 

The image had Yuuri chuckling, the tension leaving his frame. “I’ll make sure you’re the first to know if anything like that happens again.”

 

***

 

Yuuri was reading in the library. It was one of his favourite rooms of the house. It was quiet, bright, and housed thousands of universes – every single one of which Yuuri wanted to jump into. He sat in the comfiest chair of the room, slumping until he was almost engulfed by the fabric, and flipped through books he had read a hundred times by now.

 

But this time, his concentration was dwindling. His gaze was drawn to the thin curtains as they flapped in the breeze from the open window, to the old and empty dog basket in the corner of the room, to the ornament-covered table beside the steps to the upper-level of the library.

 

He closed the book and placed it in his lap, dragging his fingers across the spine. His gaze flickered across the room, noticing small things. His sister must have been in here earlier – her chair was beside the window, the pillow slightly squished. It had been cleaned recently – the streaks on the windows were catching underneath the rays of the sun.

 

His eyes finally fell on a partly-concealed part of the library, a small space underneath the stairs. A blanket was stored there from when he and Mari used to make forts to read in. Now they were used for when the cold weather creeped in.

 

Blankets. Partly-concealed. In the shadows. In plain sight. Perfect place to hide something.

 

The doors opened and in strolled his father. They shared a quick polite smile before Yuuri’s father took the chair opposite him and opened his newspaper.

 

“You look distracted,” his father commented, glancing at Yuuri over the rims of his glasses.

 

“I am.”

 

“Noticing its absence?”

 

“Yes. But I constantly feel like someone’s watching.”

 

His father flipped over a page. “You’ve been very paranoid lately. It’s no wonder.”

 

“I don’t like feeling like people are watching us. I don’t like the attention.”

 

His father nodded. Yuuri knew that he felt the same. “It’ll fade. The rumours are already starting to die down. Less people are loitering outside the spas now. People aren’t approaching me as much anymore.”

 

“But what about the attack on Mari?”

 

“I’m sure it was just some kid from town. Maybe they were even dared to do it.”

 

“Who brings a knife on a dare?”

 

“You’d be surprised.”

 

Yuuri narrowed his eyes. He wanted to ask his father how he knew something like that but decided to keep it to himself. “Well, I hope they don’t bring anyone else next time.”

 

“Even if they did, we’re better guarded this time.”

 

Yuuri didn’t want to think about the next time. His gaze flickered to the empty basket in the corner of the room before he settled in to read opposite his father.

 

***

 

“Raise your block.”

 

Yuuri did as was told, fighting against the exhaustion in his limbs to do as the instructor bid. He could feel the sweat pouring from his skin, pooling along his collarbones after slipping down his neck. It was far too hot in the training room. Even with all windows and doors open, it was like the saunas his parents installed in their spas.

 

His sister, the ever solid Mari, was feeling the burning heat. She was gasping for breath, bowing low with her arms supporting herself against her knees. She was taking a moment’s break.

 

Yuuri prepared himself against his instructor’s attack, steeling his muscles until they ached. He anticipated the move, but it hurt more than he was expecting. The instructor punched and the blow sent a ricochet of shivers through his bones – but he stood against it. He pushed until he was blocking properly, propelling the power back at the man.

 

“Keep going like that,” the instructor hissed, attacking harder. “Don’t lose stamina now.”

 

Yuuri gritted his teeth together and did as was told, pushing and pushing until the corners of his eyes were blurring with effort.

 

The instructor stopped it just before Yuuri felt like he was about to give up. He wiped the sweat from his brow, pulling back his hair from his face, and took a moment to breathe.

 

“Good,” his instructor told him, her tone as close to a soft compliment that Yuuri had ever heard before. “Keep up that stamina. The most important part of self-defence is defence.”

 

“It’s in the name,” Yuuri chimed in, repeating the words she had encouraged him to say since she had been hired as their instructor years ago.

 

She was a tall woman, and what some would describe as a skeleton with paper skin. She didn’t seem like she could fight against a leaf, and yet she was the strongest person Yuuri had ever known. Even Mari paled in comparison.

 

“It is in the name,” the instructor repeated. “Mari, your turn.”

 

His sister groaned but stood straight anyway, taking her place before the older woman. Her stance was practiced, drummed into since they had begun these lessons. Her chest was rising and falling, drawing in breath carefully until it filled her lungs fully.

 

“Do not show exhaustion, Mari,” their instructor ordered, attacking almost as soon as the final letter had left her lips. “Half the battle is won if you convince your opponent that you could go on for longer than them.”

 

Mari groaned again, but put up the best fight she could. The instructor pushed harder, punching as she had done with Yuuri until Mari’s teeth were almost rattling inside her mouth. When she was done, she left Mari kneeling down and panting, small red marks littering the outside of her arms.

 

“That concludes today’s training session,” their instructor informed. She begin packing away her things into a large bag, moving as if she hadn’t spent hours battling the life out of two young adults. She wore a little makeup on her face, still just as pristine as it had been the moment she walked into the training room hours ago. Not a hair on her head was out of place. Yuuri almost wanted to shout at her, but he’d become so used to her seemingly inhuman ways years ago. “I hope you both think about the things I have taught you and manage to incorporate them into our next lesson. Good day.”

 

She left without looking back. Though she didn’t walk quickly, her long legs carried her as if she was running from the room. Eager to get away. Yuuri couldn’t blame her, not with the way he and Mari were close to collapsing on the hard mats or how their sweat stank up the room.

 

Almost as soon as she was gone from the room, Mari did collapse. She exhaled so deeply it almost rang into a loud cry.

 

“Is it too late to fire her?” Mari asked.

 

“You say this every lesson.”

 

“I could really use a cigarette.”

 

“You’ll need to get up for that.”

 

“I don’t think I can.” She turned her head and turned her large eyes to Yuuri, knowing the younger sibling had difficulty saying no to her. “Help me up?”

 

Yuuri didn’t even try to fight. He held out his hand and pulled his sister from the floor, despite the way his muscles cried out at the sudden force. He followed her as she wandered outside through the open doors and pulled a cigarette from her pocket.

 

That was one of her powers, Yuuri noticed. It didn’t matter if there was a cigarette in the pocket originally or not, Mari could always pull one out as if she had fabricated it from thin air itself. It used to fill him with wonder before, but now it had him trying to figure it out. He knew Mari had caught on – the places she pulled cigarettes out of now got stranger and stranger. He’d seen her take one from the bed sheets, from the bread bin, from the ear of a customer, from behind a mirror. He stopped trying to figure it out and decided it was just one of Mari’s super powers.

 

She lit it up and took a long inhale. “I swear she’s going to end up killing us one day.”

 

“I think that’s the opposite of what she’s trying to teach us,” Yuuri replied, a smirk pulling at the side of his mouth.

 

“Oh yeah. What was that again?”

 

“It’s in the name.”

 

Mari snickered as she took another drag. As she raised her arm, she flinched. “I’m not going to be able to defend against anything while she beats me to a pulp.”

 

The bandage was still wrapped around Mari’s hand and it had Yuuri’s chest stinging. He still remembered the blood. It hadn’t been much and while Mari insisted she didn’t need the bandage anymore, it had scared Yuuri enough to consider some important questions. Such as if the treasure was really worth it.

 

It was. That was the first answer. It was sentimental, as well as expensive. It meant a lot to him and a lot to his family too – it was why they had kept it so secret for so long. But he’d give it up if it meant avoiding another attack. It would hurt, and perhaps some years down the line he would feel a twinge of regret and want it back, but he knew it was the right choice.

 

“You know,” he began, unsure of how to phrase it. He froze. His voice must have changed because Mari looked carefully at him, any hint of tease long gone. He swallowed and tried again. “Maybe we should just give it up.”

 

She was silent for a moment, but her expression flashed in just a second and it spoke a thousand words. She narrowed her eyes, a twitch flickered on her lip, her gaze snapped to something behind Yuuri and then back. Yuuri couldn’t keep a track of just how many things Mari did, but each one of them had him regretting his words.

 

She slowly pressed the end of the cigarette against the wall, killing the flame, before she dropped it and stomped it out completely. “You were the one that wanted to keep it.”

 

“I know. But this is causing so much trouble.”

 

“But it means so much to you. To us.”

 

“I know that too, but Mari-” He waved at the bandage on her arm and she glanced at it as if it was the first time she had noticed it. “What if it happens again?”

 

“We won’t be caught off guard again,” Mari insisted. “We knew something like this was going to happen. We knew the risk in keeping it. We had the option to chuck it away years ago and we didn’t. We knew people would try to get it – we agreed we’d protect it. That’s why we’re taking these classes, Yuuri.”

 

“But you got hurt.”

 

“Dad says that the rumours are dying down. He’s an owner of an onsen enterprise – if anyone is going to know rumours, it’s going to be him. It’s calmed down, Yuuri. People will stop trying to get to it.”

 

Yuuri knew his father had said that, he’d assured him of it not long ago. But it didn’t assure him. People who really wanted it would lie in wait until everything really had calmed down, and then they’d rise just when Yuuri and his family thought it was finally over. He didn’t know how they were going to appear, and that was what scared him the most – perhaps in an attack as they had done the night before, or as a feigned friend, or even as someone he had known for years that had turned greedy upon the rumour.

 

So many people didn’t know what it was, and that was what drew many of them like flies. The mystery of it, the first one to boast that they knew, claiming rights. There were so many things he was scared of. Whatever happened, he knew his family were going to be caught in the middle of it.

 

“People forget things all the time,” Mari reassured a little softer this time. She clapped a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it, a gesture she used to do when they were younger. It did help a little. “Things come and go in this community. You know this. How many times have the Darski twins fought and made up again because they’ve forgotten what they’ve fought about? Or just the fashions that change every single day? It’ll be forgotten, Yuuri. Everything is forgotten with time.”

 

Not everything. But Yuuri didn’t say that. He knew he was thinking the worst, and perhaps Mari was right. This was just another unsolved mystery and then something else would take its place as a distraction. They could go back into blending in at parties. They could be the family that weren’t that interesting.

 

Yuuri nodded and followed Mari back home, ready for a long shower and an evening of not having to think about what hid in the darkness.

 

***

 

It didn’t prove to be a quiet evening, however. It turned out to be more chaotic than that.

 

It started with a loud crash behind the house, as if someone had fallen into the bins behind the kitchens. Then came the alarm. The guards shouted and blew their whistles, drawing all to the back of the house.

 

Yuuri was one of the first to arrive. He jumped from his window down onto the balcony below before clambering down the pipes – a route he had used many times when he couldn’t be bothered with the stairs. From there, he ran around the corner.

 

Only to be greeted by the last sight he expected to see.

 

There were five guards. They had wrestled someone to the floor, holding a gun to his head. The man on the floor was flinching from their hold, but there was a smirk rising on his lips, only serving to aggravate them more.

 

Yuuri stood frozen, even as more guards arrived, standing between him and Viktor. They searched him, pulling apart his clothes, pressing his head to the floor.

 

He was chuckling through it all.

 

“Viktor?” Yuuri found himself asking before he realised it had passed his lips.

 

“Yuuri!” Viktor called, voice strained at the angle his head was being pressed. “I came to see you!”

 

“Silence!” a guard ordered, pressing roughly again on Viktor’s arms.

 

“It’s okay,” Yuuri assured. His words had them all freezing and glancing between them. “He’s a… he’s a friend.”

 

They reluctantly pulled back, though the one that aimed his gun did not drop it. As more staff rounded the corner, adding to their audience, Yuuri moved forwards and pulled Viktor from the floor. His clothes were torn and dirty. Yuuri tried wiping it, but it didn’t do much. They looked expensive.

 

“I’m sorry. They’re just a little… on guard at the moment.”

 

Viktor straightened up some of his torn clothing, still with the smile on his face. “It’s fine. I can’t blame them. I probably looked a little weird, lurking around the back of the house.”

 

“What were you doing lurking around the back of the house?” Yuuri asked carefully, his suspicion slowly returning.

 

“I was trying to figure out which window was yours. I wanted to throw stones and get your attention.”

 

Yuuri’s suspicion died quickly, though his curiosity almost had him smiling. “Why didn’t you just knock on the door?”

 

“Because that’s not romantic.”

 

Viktor said it with no hesitation, no joke. The sincerity in his voice had not just Yuuri blushing, but some of the guards around them. Yuuri saw them falter, turning their eyes on Yuuri. He grabbed Viktor by his arm and dragged him around the corner. His parents and sister were there to meet him, grinding to a halt as they noticed him.

 

“False alarm,” Yuuri informed them. They might have asked more, but Yuuri was too busy dragging Viktor away. He tried not to blush harder as Viktor manoeuvred their hold so that their fingers were intertwined. Viktor squeezed them tightly.

 

Without a word, Yuuri took Viktor through the threshold into their grand lobby where the servants were rallying, drawn by the alarm. Yuuri gave them a smile as they watched him ascend the stairs, a strange man holding his hand.

 

Never mind rumours around the other noble and rich families, rumours around the staff of the house were more damaging. These were the people he liked, people he spoke to, people that would have no shame in teasing him. More than a few watched as Yuuri took Viktor into his bedroom.

 

He let go of Viktor to lock the door and to calm down his beating heart. No doubt they were talking about him now, asking questions. He could already hear their questions for when Viktor left, see the way they would push and pull at one another to get to him. Yuuko would be the worst. She wouldn’t just demand it, she would try and beat it out of him. He wanted to smile at it, but found himself too much of a victim to do so.

 

When he turned around, Viktor was already on the other side of the room. He was glancing around the place, eyes focusing on smaller aspects of Yuuri’s bedroom, such as the pile of books beside his bed, the way his covers hadn’t been made yet, or how one part of the curtains had been folded behind the radiator but the other hadn’t, his open laptop on his desk, the organised files in the bookcase. Yuuri wondered what he thought of it all.

 

“Viktor,” he said, the one word drawing the other man’s attention immediately. “Are you alright?”

 

“Alright?”

 

“Yes. You were tackled to the floor. I know they handle people roughly. Did they hurt you?”

 

“No,” Viktor replied. There was a small scratch on his wrist and the side of his cheek, damaging his perfectly porcelain skin. “I’ve handled far worse.”

 

Yuuri didn’t want to ask, but at the back of his mind he filtered that away. Viktor was becoming more and more strange with every conversation. All Yuuri knew about him was that he was here to see a relative, not where he was from, what he did, not even how long he was here. At first, it made Yuuri suspicious, but it created a pit at the bottom of his stomach. The more the thought about it, the more upset it made him feel and he didn’t understand why.

 

“Actually, you know, it’s starting to hurt,” Viktor changed, sitting on the edge of the bed and wincing at the scratch on his wrist.

 

Yuuri rushed to him, carefully bringing the injury to his eye level. It was slightly red, small traces of dirt still embedded in the wound, but nothing horrible. His eyes met Viktor’s again.

 

He was smirking. Viktor said, “It’ll get better if you help nurse me.”

 

Yuuri let it go and rolled his eyes. “Why did you want to find me, anyway?” He sat beside Viktor, all too aware of how close they were. Viktor’s heat beside him was igniting a spark behind his heart, making it hard for him to swallow.

 

“I just wanted to see you. I’ve missed having an interesting conversation with someone worthy.”

 

“But I’m not really that interesting.”

 

“Yuuri, you’re the most interesting person I’ve ever met.”

 

Yuuri’s heart stopped beating at that moment. He could feel the truth in Viktor’s words, with not one ounce of lie. Viktor didn’t seem the type, Yuuri thought. He’d been so suspicious when he first met him, and sometimes he still felt it. But Viktor had proved different. He’d only ever been unabashedly truthful, saying things that came to mind without so much as a thought of lying. Yuuri wondered if that was what he needed.

 

Viktor continued, “You could say nothing for a whole day and it would capture my attention. I could quite happily sit and watch you do anything, even buying things at a shop, or reading.”

 

“Well, that’s all I really do.” Viktor was looking at him intently, leaning forward, his eyes glittering with something Yuuri couldn’t quite place. He’d never seen someone look at him like that before. It was so soft. It was captivating. It was breath-taking. He had thought Viktor was beautiful and brilliant before, but now he seemed something alien. He was making Yuuri lose himself. He choked out, “That’s all I really am.”

 

“No, Yuuri. I don’t know you as well as I would love to know you, but even I can see that you are so much more.”

 

He was getting too close. Yuuri could feel his breath on his face and see his own reflection in Viktor’s eyes. He knew what was coming, and some part of him deep down really wanted it. Viktor’s lips looked soft and a voice in his mind told him they would fit so nicely against his own. But he pulled away and stood up.

 

He felt suddenly awkward and rubbed his hands together, not quite meeting Viktor’s gaze. “You’d be one of the only people to think that,” he said, trying to joke but it came out as more pitiful. He paused, a question popping into his mind that he couldn’t be rid of. “Viktor, what do you want with me? You flirt and you try to get my attention, but why? What do you want to happen?”

 

Viktor was silent for a while and Yuuri couldn’t bring himself to turn to look at the older man. The questions were weighing heavily in the air, making it harder to breathe. He almost flinched when Viktor stood up and faced him.

 

He chanced a glance and Viktor’s soft gaze took his breath away. His stomach clenched, his heart raced, and every bone in his body told him he was falling. He wanted to look away because he knew where this was leading, but he couldn’t. Mari said to play. This wasn’t playing.

 

Viktor raised his hand and brushed his knuckles against Yuuri’s cheek. Yuuri didn’t pull away this time, instead he almost wanted to lean into the touch. It was made with so much care, touching him as if he was a fragile treasure.

 

“If I have to be completely honest,” Viktor whispered, voice sounding more raw than anything Yuuri had heard on another person, “I don’t know. I didn’t intend for anything at first. I saw you and you captured my attention until you distracted me from what I came here for in the first place. I just know that I like having your attention half as much as you have mine. I want to be important to you. I want your conversations, I want your company.” He cupped Yuuri’s cheek, hold hovering just slightly over his skin as if he was worried Yuuri was going to pull away again. “I might want more than that too, but that part I haven’t figured out yet. I’m not thinking too much about it. I’m just doing what I want and hoping you want it too.”

 

Yuuri wasn’t sure what to say to that. He had expected something akin to a lie for an answer, a rounded truth that wasn’t really clear until time was spent on it. ‘I don’t know, just going with the flow’ or a ‘I want to be with you forever’, or something equally as frustrating and romantic. Instead, he felt as if Viktor had handed him a plate with his feelings and his heart on it. Yuuri wasn’t nearly as open, knowing that it could bring pain. Viktor didn’t look scared though. Yuuri could crush him right now, but he didn’t seem frightened in the least.

 

“I…” Yuuri began, unsure of where it was going. He could feel Viktor’s heat on his cheek. The man’s gaze was burning something deep inside him. “I don’t know what to do.”

 

Viktor was the one that pulled away, though it was with some reluctance. He let his hand drop to his side and he gave a small smile to Yuuri, caught between knowing that the answer was coming and trying to make sure it didn’t hurt him. Yuuri wasn’t nearly as forward, open or risky as Viktor could be. Differences were good, but sometimes they burned bridges.

 

“You don’t have to know what to do, Yuuri. There is no pressure, never from me,” Viktor replied. “I know I can be a handful. A lot of people tell me I am. I cause a lot of stress for my family. I jump into things without thinking. I get very easily distracted. I get bored easily. But you were something so different, something that gave me a feeling I hadn’t ever felt before, I couldn’t help but chase you. I’m sorry if it felt like I was pressuring you.”

 

Why did it sound like Viktor had reached some sort of decision? It was painful to Yuuri’s ears, ringing like shrill bells and stabbing like a blunt knife. He wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t sure what about it had him so scared. In that moment, he knew he had a choice. Just as Viktor had reached a decision, he needed to reach one too.

 

Though Viktor wasn’t walking anywhere, Yuuri felt as if time was slowly slipping away. He rushed to answer, “I-I’m not what you think I am. I’m just like everyone else, probably more boring. I’m not much.” He held up his hand when he noticed that Viktor was about to say something, stopping him before he could continue. “When do you leave to go back to your town?”

 

Viktor didn’t answer for a few seconds, eyes glancing away. “I don’t really have an end date. I just need to finish a few things and then I can leave.”

 

“And what happens then?”

 

“I… I don’t know.”

 

Of course, because Viktor had already mentioned that he didn’t think about the things he did. He let the flow of his feelings take him. Yuuri didn’t do that anymore.

 

Viktor turned back to him. “It’s okay, Yuuri. I understand. It’s hard. I’m not someone you know very well. It’s good to be cautious.”

 

Yuuri’s heart skipped a beat again. Viktor was deciding something. He’d probably already reached an answer to whatever he was battling inside his head, and Yuuri’s roundabout answers were helping him along. It was scaring Yuuri again.

 

This time Viktor did take a step back. The glow in his eyes had dulled some and the smile he gave wasn’t the soft, understanding one anymore. Instead, it seemed sad. He made to say something but Yuuri stopped him again. This time with a kiss.

 

He grabbed the front of Viktor’s shirt and pulled him until their chests pressed together. He could feel Viktor’s breathing against his, his rapid heart beating along to the same rhythm of Yuuri’s. His shocked gasp as Yuuri pulled him had Yuuri gasping himself, the press good against his skin. He had one moment of hesitation as he leaned forwards, but pushed it away.

 

He decided to do as Viktor did and not think about it. What he wanted was to feel Viktor’s lips pressed against his, his hot breath on his face, his gasp as it escaped his lips. So he did it. He kissed Viktor until the other man melted against him and the air was filled with sparks.

 

The world fell away. The raging storm inside him calmed. He could breathe again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is so late in the day again! Been a busy day and I'm sat here dying at the computer and I want to drink a gallon of water. But here it is for all of you! I hope you enjoy!!
> 
> Especially that ending huh? huh? huuuuuuh? 
> 
> If you'd like to chat or keep updated, you can follow me on tumblr 
> 
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	7. We're Not Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by the miraculous whynikkywhy

If Viktor had to explain the kiss, he’d describe it in every way a person would expect him to – the universe imploded and the planets aligned. Colours became more vibrant, his heart stopped, everything in the world seemed to sing.

But that wasn’t true. It was so much more than that. If Viktor had to explain the kiss truthfully, he’d say it was much, much more romantic. Every doubt in his head was swept away – not into hiding, but completely gone. He’d never been so sure before. Yuuri’s heat was like the sun itself, addictive and bringing nothing but happiness. Viktor smiled against it.

No planets aligned. The universe didn’t implode. Colours were still their dull self. There was no singing. But everything began to make sense. Loneliness was always something dark at the corner of Viktor’s mind, something that his Russian family could never chase away for him. But Yuuri’s kiss cleared it all. It made Viktor think about the future, of questions he wanted to ask Yuuri, how their hands would feel intertwined with one another.

As the kiss ended, it made Viktor regret.

Even as he left Yuuri reluctantly, pushed by Yuuri’s shy insistence that he had to help his father with work, Viktor felt his heart sink. He wanted to keep touching Yuuri, to make sure that their lips never left one another – he wanted to chase that peace Yuuri gave him now. But all the while, he couldn’t help but think of where he was. In this house, in one of these rooms, was the real reason he had come here.

Regret wasn’t a strong enough word. Doubt wasn’t either. He didn’t know what to do.

Chase it. Fight it. Tell everyone about it. Not let it defeat him. Bathe in it. Forget about it. There were so many options, and there was only one that his heart and mind wanted. But that meant giving up things he loved, including his thieving family.

Love. What a strange thing it was. Its power was never subtle. It was always powerful, a thousand foot wave of destruction, the warmest rays of the sun, the brightest light and the darkest shadows. It could bring the biggest smiles and the wettest tears. Sometimes it was hard to separate the hurt and the peace.

He wasn’t sure if it had gotten to that point yet. Did he love Yuuri? His first thought was that no, he didn’t. But Yuuri’s image was stained at the back of his eyelids every time he blinked, his imprint burned in his mind. The doubts began to come back.

It was afternoon. The sun was still high over the horizon, the night still a few hours away. Usually, Viktor waited until the darkness to begin his job.

But he was pushed this time to try something new. He felt the pressure within himself, already craving the peace that Yuuri brought him. If he had to be honest, he was panicking a little. He decided to drown himself in work, even if that meant hunting for the hidden treasure around the house while Yuuri and his family still walked it.

He walked out the front door and bid the guards a goodbye before he worked his way around the treeline and found his way back in through the southern side of the house. He waited in a store cupboard, memorising the sounds of the guards as they paced their patrol. They were frequent and on time – in other words, they were very good guards. Every group consisted of four, more than Viktor could handle.

He drowned himself in the memorisation and stopped thinking about how Yuuri’s lips still lingered on his, how his scent was still surrounding Viktor. Somewhere above, Yuuri was still wandering around, speaking to his father and probably thinking the same things as Viktor was.

He shook his head and tried to be rid of the thoughts. He needed to finish this mission. He needed to do what he had come for. Perhaps then he could think about what to do afterwards and what to do about Yuuri.

Once he was sure that he knew the patterns, he risked it. He exited the store cupboard and snuck his way along the hallway. He wanted to check the library again, but he knew that it wouldn’t be any use until he figured out what it was that had gone missing. He needed to find a picture.

A photo album. He needed to find one. Where would there be one?

The living room, perhaps. He found his way there easily enough, hiding along the corners and in other rooms, waiting for them to pass by. The living room itself was a large room with an open fireplace in the middle of the back wall, made from slate and old, discoloured bricks. An old chandelier hung from the textured ceiling, swinging lightly in the breeze from the open window. Some of the stones had come out of it, fallen after years of children throwing toys about the room. Bookshelves lined the walls. A television was attached to the wall on the right. The chairs were clearly used with dents in the cushions and dips in the arm rests. It was a very well loved room.

Viktor clicked the door shut behind him, listening as the guards began their patrol of the floor over again. He could hear their footsteps in the distance, shaking the floorboards as they walked down the hall. They walked right by the living room door.

Viktor kneeled beside the first bookshelf and began to scan their spines. A photo album. He knew what those looked like, and yet he suspected that this secretive family might hide everything they could. He took the books out one by one, flipping through their pages.

He didn’t find a photo album, but he did find out the type of books that this family liked. Someone was very keen on romance, it seemed, while someone else loved fantasy. Someone liked sports, another preferred magazines. Usually, Viktor found nothing but classical literature in homes like this. The same titles, the same rich font, the same golden embroidery along the spine. The more he found out about this family, however, the more he began to think that they were nothing, _nothing_ like families he had ever come close to before.

It was in the second bookshelf that he found anything resembling a photo album. It was old and worn, not updated for what seemed like years, but it had been filled lovingly. Opening it to the front page, he was faced with a picture of Mari and Yuuri as babies. On two separate pictures, the babies were bundled up and swaddled in blankets, with small, red and puffy cheeks.

Yuuri looked the same. He had a head of black hair, beautiful eyes, a gaze that captured Viktor’s attention so completely. He turned the page. The first half of the album was Mari as she grew up as an only child. She had the same wavy brown hair that her roots were currently showing. Halfway through it, Yuuri’s bundle came into the picture. A few of the photos had been staged, with Mari holding her squirming little brother on her lap, or a few pictures with birthday presents, but the majority were photos taken during active moments, of Yuuri running through the garden, smiling up from a mess in the kitchen, dancing in the ballroom. Some were blurred, but each and every one had Yuuri’s beaming and beautiful smile. It made it hard for Viktor to breathe.

He took in each one and felt as a small smile was pulling at his own lips. He flipped through, seeing Yuuri grow in colour, framed by white photos. As time passed, the quality got better and Viktor could see so many things that resembled the Yuuri he knew now.

He could see the age Yuuri took to dancing. Seven or so, the photos of him in his ballet clothes became more frequent. The first few, he was unsure on his feet. As time wore on, Yuuri became more confident, body growing through growth spurts and the oncoming teenage years.

Somewhere along the way, Yuuri acquired another family member. It was a small ball of fluff with a tongue rolling from its mouth. In every photo, Yuuri was with it. He was holding it close in one, hugging it tightly to his chest on another, walking it down a beach, pressing kisses to its muzzle. Through the photos, Viktor saw the puppy grow into a smaller version of his own dog, Makkachin. It made him long for her.

Yuuri loved that dog. It was plain enough in the photos he flipped through. Yuuri’s eyes sparkled in every single one. He flipped to a page and the whole space was filled with the dog and its first birthday. A little doggy cake had been made for it, Yuuri blowing the candle out before the dog could hurt itself. Atop its head, it had a little party hat. In one photo, Yuuri was gifting it a present.

The present had Viktor’s breath ending in a gasp. It was a glittering collar with thousands of small glittering stones, holding the same sparkle that shone in Yuuri’s and the puppy’s eyes. The dog was sniffing its new accessory. In the next photo, Yuuri was modelling with the puppy, holding it as the collar was clasped comfortably around the puppy’s neck, almost lost completely in the curls of its fur.

Viktor saw as the puppy and Yuuri grew into teenagers, then into young adults. As the puppy grew older and Yuuri came into himself, becoming more of the man that Viktor knew, the photos became less frequent. A few here and there, during special occasions such as holidays or birthdays. On Yuuri’s twenty-second, he stood with his family and his dog before a sunset along the beach.

It wasn’t the same chaotic scene Viktor had seen in previous pictures. Yuuri was taller than Mari and his mother now, holding himself as a young gentleman would, smile smaller than before but no less happier. The dog at his feet, still wearing the glittering collar, was greying a little. It didn’t hold itself as well as it used to, and though the puppy-like sparkle was still in its eye, it was aging.

It was the last photo it appeared in.

Only a few pictures were after that and in each the dog was missing. Yuuri’s birthday here, Mari’s birthday there, the grand re-opening of a spa by his father a year later. All important moments. All without the dog.

Viktor felt it tug at his heart. He saw through countless photos how important that dog had been to Yuuri, and he could sympathise. Makka was the important part of his life, a stable force there for him to return to whenever he felt like life was slipping away just a little bit. He knew she was aging too, but he often wanted to ignore that fact of life.

He closed the photo album. There hadn’t been a picture of the library. His one lead had slipped into a dead end.

For just one second, Viktor felt something he had never felt before – coming to a dead end, he felt relief. Relief. In not finding what he wanted to find, he felt _relief_. It had only lasted a second, but it worried him.

***

Seeing Yuuri’s dog had Viktor craving for the company of his own. He sat on his sofa, Makkachin cuddled close to his chest and lying on half of his body, her tail wagging as he ran his fingers through her fur. In his free hand, he swirled a tumbler of whiskey. Outside of his window, the heavy darkness pressed.

Lights of the world beyond it shone under the cover of night, and yet it only helped remind him about Yuuri’s eyes. His chest tightened. He took another sip.

Makkachin moved slightly, until her head rested on top of where his heart beat. There, she settled until sleep overtook her once more and Viktor continued to stroke her fur. Even the thought of going through the hardest parts in life without her almost brought a tear to his eye. He wondered how Yuuri had managed it.

“What do you think I should do, Makka?” he whispered, his voice sounding more raw to even his own ears than it had ever done before. He coughed it away. “Hmm, girl? I’ve really dug myself a hole here.”

She flicked her ears in reply and nuzzled his chest.

He hugged her closer. “It’s only going to get worse, Makka. It’s only going to get deeper. I don’t know what I should do.”

Because he knew himself well. He chased after the things he wanted, and what he wanted was Yuuri. He wanted his smile, his time, his attention, his future. He wanted more than he knew he could get. With Yuuri, he could be himself, something he could only be with his thief family. He didn’t feel like he had to make himself into something for the other man. Yuuri’s warmth was the closest thing to reality Viktor had felt for a very long time.

He kissed Makkachin’s head and left his face there, buried in her fur as he scratched her ears.

But he wanted the treasure too. Not so much for what it was anymore – though that still appealed to him. He wanted it because it was something sure, something he knew how to do, not something that had feelings attached, not something that could easily break. It was something he had known for years. Something that he did well. It connected him to his thief family – the only family he had left. Treasure was always beautiful to him, but he wasn’t sure how long he’d be beautiful to Yuuri. Relationships broke up. Feelings faded. Smiles disappeared.

Treasures stayed priceless.

“What should I do?”

***

Viktor was used to difficult questions. Yakov asked enough of them. One way or another, Viktor found ways to make sure those difficult questions didn’t bother him too much – whether that be if he ignored them or found a solution.

This time, it could not be ignored. He thought of finding a solution. But he couldn’t do that either.

Like a lost child, he ran to his family to get away from the pressure inside himself. Yurio was sitting in the same leather sofa as he always seemed to be in, scrolling through his phone. He barely looked up when Viktor walked into the lobby. Mila was sitting on the leather chair in the corner, almost concealed behind the fake potted plant. Georgi was sat opposite, a bag at his feet, some label that he always liked to go for.

Mila and Georgi smiled at him as he walked in then turned back down to what held their attention. Before Mila, a laptop was sat, connected by a cable to a bundle of equipment Viktor couldn’t even begin to understand. There were more blinking lights than he could keep up with. Georgi was scrolling through his phone, as Yurio was, but Viktor suspected the older man would be scrolling through auction houses, searching for beautiful pictures that would capture his eye.

Viktor moved Yurio’s feet and sat himself on the other side of the sofa. He collapsed against the leather, the pressure making him sigh. Yurio moved to rest his feet on his lap.

Already, he felt better. Whatever was happening outside of this room, it couldn’t touch him. He was at home with his family, in a place where there was no pressure. He lay back and cradled his head against the back of the sofa. Exhaustion swarmed over him.

“How’s the hunting going, Viktor?” Mila asked, pulling him back before he could fall asleep.

“Hunting?”

“For the hidden treasure.”

It seemed he couldn’t escape it for long. Yet, having Mila ask, it felt easier to answer. “I thought I had a lead.”

“What lead?”

He rolled his head up again, meeting Mila’s eyes. “I spoke to the ex-maid. She mentioned how she saw the family sneaking from the library one night. They didn’t leave with anything and nothing was moved. But I think they did take something.”

“That sounds like a good lead to me,” Georgi commented.

“It was, until I tried to find what it was. I used their photo albums.”

“And?” Mila asked, leaning forwards and diverting her attention from the laptop to Viktor. “Anything?”

“No. There aren’t any photos of the library at all.”

There was silence that followed. Even Yurio glanced up from his phone, despite the fact that he was using his fringe to cover his gaze. Viktor might have been a teenager once, but he still didn’t understand their way of thinking.

“No photos at all? Of the library?” Mila repeated.

“Yes.”

“But it’s such a big part of the house.”

Viktor nodded, hearing the same frustration in Mila’s voice as he’d been feeling for days. “And from what I see, it’s a popular room. They use it a lot.”

“And yet there’s not a single picture.”

“Not one that I found. Strange, isn’t it?”

Georgi placed his phone down onto his lap. “Do you think they’ve done it consciously to hide whatever they have?”

Viktor’s first answer was that yes, it was conscious. Why else were there so many pictures and not one of the library? But as he moved to say it, he thought about more – about the fact that there were other rooms that hadn’t been photographed. There were no photos of the kitchen, or all the bedrooms, or the hallways. None of those were conscious.

“I don’t know. I think it might not be.”

“So,” Yurio began, dropping his phone to sit between him and the sofa, “with no leads and no idea what this thing even is, what are you going to do?”

Viktor didn’t let the flinch in his frame show. “That’s a question I’ve been asking myself.”

Mila asked, “Is there anyone else working there that you can ask? Or someone you can bribe into working for you?”

“Not all of the employees know everything about what’s happening, and the ones who do are very loyal.”

“But there has to be someone you can bribe. Not everyone is loyal to death.”

“I don’t have the time or the means to find who would give me information. It’s not like a chain business, this is a household. The odds are, I’ll find the one who is loyal to death and will destroy my efforts.” He’d almost been found once sneaking around. He’d misinterpreted the guard rotas and walked straight into being cornered. He had decided to then show himself to the guards to erase any close calls, but that had been when they tackled him to the ground and raised the alarms. Yuuri had saved him, but it admittedly had scared Viktor.

The Katsuki guards were very good at their job. They changed their rotas enough that even he had been caught out. They were observant, strong, organised and dangerous. He was sure that the other employees would not be anything short of the same.

“What do they have that could bring such loyalty from their employees?” Georgi asked. “What are they keeping?”

“I don’t know.” It hurt Viktor to admit it. Normally, by now, he would have acquired a plan to get the treasure. Most of the time, he already had it. But this was holding him back.

“You’ll figure it out,” Mila encouraged.

The office door opened. Yakov stepped out, searching over the room. His eyes landed on Viktor. “Ah, Vitya. I thought I heard your voice.”

“Afternoon, Yakov. How are you?”

The older man grunted as a reply and nodded his head to his office. “I need to speak with you.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Viktor replied. He meant it as a joke, but it died on his tongue as soon he saw Yakov’s expression. He was always serious, but this time it was a little more serious than usual. Viktor couldn’t explain it. Perhaps it was the increased amount of wrinkles around his eyes.

Yakov replied, “It’s not. We have something important to talk about. It’s going to affect your job.”

Viktor’s first thought was that Yakov had somehow figured out his conflicting feelings. He swallowed away his hesitation and followed Yakov into his office. The door clicked closed behind him, cutting off all sound from the lobby.

Yakov moved slowly to sit back in the chair behind his desk. He levelled Viktor with a steady stare, trying to find the right words to say.

Yakov had definitely figured out Viktor’s doubts, he knew it. He could almost see the disappointment in the older man’s eyes. He took a deep breath in through his slightly open lips, felt it fill every inch of his lungs, and exhaled it. “What’s wrong?” he asked, voice sounding steadier than he felt.

“Sit down, Viktor.”

Viktor did as was told. He sat in the chair opposite Yakov’s desk, feeling like a child waiting to be punished. “What’s happened?” he asked, impatient for the answer.

“Someone else has made a claim.”

It wasn’t the answer he had expected. It felt like a crash of cold water against his warm skin, waking him up when he hadn’t even felt like he was asleep. His nerves sparked, his heart stopped, it was hard to breathe. “What?”

Yakov tapped a pen against the table, the first sign of his nerves that Viktor had seen in years. “Someone has come forward and made a claim for the Katsuki secret. It came this morning.”

“Who?”

“It would…” Yakov paused, leaning back in his chair. He kept his steady gaze on Viktor, but it wasn’t the stare Viktor was used to. Something had shaken him. “It would be more accurate for me to say rather than _someone_ , _people_ have made a claim.”

“More… more than one? Person?”

“More than one group.”

Viktor collapsed against the back of the chair, slipping down until he was almost falling off the chair. “Why?” It came out angrier than he had expected, a bite in his words that he couldn’t keep hidden. “Why now? The rumours have been going around for a few weeks. They’re starting to die out. Why would they all choose today to make a claim? We’ve already made ours.”

“Maybe they feel like you’re taking too long,” Yakov supplied.

“But why all together?”

“I don’t know, Viktor.”

He sat up again, close to slamming a fist against the table surface. His anger was slowly rising within him. He thought it might have been a clear answer to the question he had been asking himself, but he found himself thinking about Yuuri again. “Who are they? What groups are making the claim?”

“Out of the big ones, the Ji clan made a claim first and the Leroy’s followed an hour later. Smaller groups have been rising ever since, staking their claim every hour since this morning.”

Viktor bit his lip until he felt it hurt, a small wash of blood filling his mouth. “But why now?” he asked, more to himself than Yakov. “Have any come forward and admitted to being the one to attack the Katsuki daughter yet?”

“No, no claim on that yet.”

“It’s got to be one of them.” He’d become complacent. Their group was known to be one of the most effective in the thieving business. He thought their first claim would be enough to get rid of any other interest. But he’d been wrong. He should have known that he’d be watched closely, and at the first sign of his failing, other groups would rise. “Have they only made claims? Have none said anything else more about it?”

“Nothing. No plans. No claim fights. Just showing their interest, and then they’ve all gone underground again.” Yakov was watching him carefully. He could feel the man’s eyes boring into him. Viktor didn’t reply, and instead Yakov was the one to fill the space. “Some of the groups are not going to be as quiet as you are, Viktor. They won’t be as patient.”

Viktor gave a humourless chuckle. “You mean JJ? That man is like a bull in a china shop – the worst excuse for a thief ever.”

“His family have made the claim, Viktor,” Yakov interrupted. “If you don’t want this job to be taken away from you, you need to act quickly and get what they’re hiding. Jean-Jacques will give away your position to the family without a second hesitation.”

Viktor froze. He had forgotten about that. JJ would use any means he could to steal the job from him, and that included telling Yuuri everything that Viktor was trying to do. The thought ached in his chest. He was surprised by the desperation in his thoughts, his sudden need to stop JJ at all costs. “I’ll do my best.”

“You need to do better than that.”

***

Viktor sighed.

He leaned against the bark of the tree, shifting against the branch underneath him. It creaked slightly under his weight, the sound masked by the night breeze. It had gotten dark quickly, the sun collapsing against the horizon until the sky was coloured a patchy black and blue. With the darkness, the cold crept in.

It was getting late. The hour was about to strike midnight, and yet the Katsuki house before him was still bright with lights. Yuuri was sitting at his desk in his room. Viktor watched from where he sat on the trees. He was writing something. Every now and again, Yuuri would raise his pen and chew on it in thought, drawing Viktor’s gaze to his lips.

Just a little while ago, he’d been kissing those lips. He was surprised by how soft they were, how plump, how well they fitted against his own. He’d loved Yuuri’s soft gasp as they had connected, the warmth against his body, Yuuri’s scent filling his nose.

The kiss had filled Viktor with a happiness he hadn’t felt in many years. He seemed so pure, yet with an edge to him that had Viktor curious for more. He enjoyed Viktor’s company, just as Viktor enjoyed his. As simple as that.

But it wasn’t that simple. It wasn’t simple at all.

He placed his knife on his lap while he rubbed his cold hands together, warming them. His gaze flickered to the shadows around him, waiting for movement. Thieves were not one to wait. Once a claim had been made, that night would be when they attacked. He was ready for a fight.

Yuuri stood up in the bedroom, stretching his worn muscles. There was a sleepy smile on his face and it took all of Viktor’s strength to stop himself from breaking in through the window and kissing that smile wider.

Viktor found himself smiling at the sight. He was good at picking out treasures, if he did say so himself. Yuuri was most certainly a treasure – one of the brightest, most beautiful, most priceless treasures he had ever come across. He just wanted to take Yuuri home and wrap him up in his bed, keep him for himself and cherish him. But jobs got in the way.

He heard something behind him. To an untrained ear, it might have been a branch swaying in the breeze, or a late bird snapping at twigs. To Viktor, he knew exactly what it was.

Without moving, he said, “I’ve already staked claim, and I did it far earlier than you. I will not relinquish it.” He knew whoever it was, was listening. He heard their pause against the trees, their breathing though they attempted to hide it against the wind. “Leave now, or I’ll be forced to fight you.”

“Oh, _please_ ,” came the reply. “You’re messing up the job. Of course, the king would come in and swoop the prize away.” They moved closer, coming to stand on the same branch that Viktor was sat in.

He tightened his grip on the knife, moving it so that it caught in the moonlight. With any luck, he wouldn’t need to use it. “This isn’t your job, JJ.”

The younger man came into his view then. He was dressed all in expensive black clothing, his hat barely able to hold in his dark hair as it poked down his forehead. Easily identifiable, Viktor thought. It was no wonder the man wasn’t on Viktor’s level.

“It is now. My family put forward the claim,” JJ replied, voice filled with the same smug note that Viktor hated. “You know the rules, Viktor. Anyone can make a claim. It’s just a matter of who gets to it first. It’ll be me, of course.”

Viktor chuckled humourlessly. “You don’t know anything about it. What’s the treasure?”

“You’re trying to trick me into telling you so you can find it.”

Viktor rolled his eyes. “Take back the claim, JJ. You won’t find anything.”

“That’s what you think, but I’ve got a better chance than you do. I have connections.”

Viktor knew exactly what connections those would be. JJ’s family of thieves were the types to steal the most expensive items, the items with the biggest reputation in order to gather the attention. Before he even opened his mouth, Viktor knew he was going to say he had connections – and those connections would be the rich families around them. The families that spread rumours about the Katsukis, the families that didn’t know anything at all.

“That’s great, JJ.”

“You’re really getting old, huh? What have you been doing until now? We only held back this far because we thought you’d find it before we could hope to. But here you are, still searching. Are you losing your touch?”

Viktor ignored the words. The younger man, the late teen, would never be able to understand. Before the window, Yuuri was brushing his hair, roughly pulling the brush through his thick locks.

“Huh,” JJ said, voice just loud enough to pierce the bubble Viktor had placed around himself. “So that’s Yuuri Katsuki. Doesn’t look like much.”

Viktor bit his lip to stop himself from speaking.

“Isn’t he meant to be, like, a guard or something? He’s small. I could fight him off easily.”

Calm, he told himself. This was JJ’s strong suit, and he knew it. He knew he could annoy people like Viktor, so he used it. Before the anger had time to rise, before he could drown in his frustration, something caught his attention. From the corner of his eye, he saw shadows moving that shouldn’t have been. They danced in the trees, walking against the breeze.

Three silhouettes walked from the darkness. He recognised a thieves’ walk immediately. His eyes widened and he cursed lowly, the swear dying underneath the loud rustle of the leaves.

“Well, well,” JJ whispered. “Looks like the other claimers have come. We’re not alone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm earlier this week! Yay! I actually had a short shift XD 
> 
> Anyway, there were some heavier clues this chapter about what the treasure is... did anyone catch it or have any theories? :3 If not, more clues are to come! 
> 
> I don't expect this story to be very long. I'd say it's about half-way through already. I don't have a concrete plan, only a bulletpoint plot, so I haven't worked out the chapter limits yet. But once I have more time I'll do that! So a nice short one after the monster that was Gunned Down Butterflies XD 
> 
> I hope everyone is having a good week! 
> 
> If you'd like to keep up to date with the updates, you're welcome to follow me on tumblr 
> 
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	8. Back to Mine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Beta-read by the wicked whynikkiwhy

He couldn’t stop thinking about it. Every time Yuuri thought he had chased it from his memory, he could feel the tingle on his lips again.

Though he tried to make sure he wasn’t swept away by his emotions, but he couldn’t help the smile that rose as he thought about it. Viktor had been gentle, cupping his cheek as he had kissed him. It had taken his breath away and breathed new life into his lungs at the same time.

He knew it wasn’t a good thing to see this as happiness. Anything could go wrong. He’d been proven that once before – a time when he felt as if he had fallen in love just to see it destroyed and fill his mouth with the taste of contempt. Love was always tainted in his view now.

This time, it wasn’t any different. Viktor was from another village. He would go soon. It was also tainted by the fact he had suspected the man in the beginning. He couldn’t get rid of that guilt.

Not that this was love. Yuuri didn’t think it was quite that, not yet. He knew he was falling, and every moment he found himself in Viktor’s presence he knew it was just going to grow stronger. But this time, it didn’t feel like he was being destroyed to get there.

He tore his hand from his lips again. He couldn’t stop it. Viktor’s press lingered there.

He wanted to talk to Viktor about it, but the man had needed to go so quickly after that they hadn’t had the chance. Yuuri understood, but it made Yuuri realise that he didn’t know much about Viktor. He needed to ask more questions when they next saw one another. He found himself wanting to ask small and mundane questions, like what his favourite things were, what he thought he wanted to do. Questions that had been asked a thousand times in a lifetime, but the first between them.

It was starting to get dark outside. The shadows crept in so slowly, shrouding the trees until he could see nothing but a canvas of black. Seeing that always unnerved him. He could never see if there was anything looking back.

He closed the curtains. It eased him some, though the paranoia still hung at the back of his mind.

They needed to get another dog, he thought with a pang in his chest. He gripped the shirt before his chest and took a deep breath.

He knew the reason they didn’t have another dog was because he had been the one to stop it. After Vicchan… There wasn’t another dog he had wanted.

Funny, he thought, that the man that was taking his interest now had the same name as his beloved dog. He had thought it odd at first, perhaps an omen. Now he just thought it was a pretty name.

Vicchan had been so good as a guard dog. Yuuri never felt worry when he was near. He could sleep soundly and not mind what might have loitered in the night. Back then, there wasn’t really anything anyway.

A knock came on his door. He turned and called them in.

Mari peeked around the door. Her hand was still bandaged, though the wound had closed by now. She wore it mainly as a reminder, more for herself than anyone else. She didn’t want it to happen again.

“Hey, bro,” she greeted, a smirk at the corner of her mouth. “Not settled for sleep yet?”

Yuuri shook his head. “You can’t say much. You’re not even in your pyjamas yet.”

Mari came in and closed the door behind her, the small click echoing about the room. “Wasn’t tired. Mum and Dad are still up too. They’re reading in the library.”

“They can’t sleep?”

“I don’t think they’ve tried.”

“Going to be one of those late nights again.” Yuuri sat back at his desk, running a hand through his hair. “I was thinking about that new property Dad wants to get.”

“Oh?” Mari sat on the bed, smoothing down some of the wrinkles. “What about it?”

“Doesn’t he have enough at the moment? We’re snowed under with paper work now. Does he really want another one?”

“He’s got it in his head that it’s going to be a restaurant as well as a hot spring. He wants the world to taste mum’s cooking.”

Yuuri could understand. Some of his favourite food in the world was food that his mother had made. Nothing else compared. He wasn’t sure what it was, if it was the love she poured into it or the secret ingredients, or perhaps a combination of both, but it made it better than anything ever could taste. “And what has she said about this?”

“Mum’s excited to be cooking. You know her, she’s at her happiest when she has a whole house to feed.”

“We’ve not hosted a dinner party for a long while.”

Mari nodded, a small chuckle leaving her lips. “I think she’s going stir crazy with it. She almost made two vats of the food last night. Some of the servants had to have bowls just to use it up.”

“A restaurant would be good for her,” Yuuri agreed. A whole building of people to cook for. Dozens of appreciative mouths to fill. Cooking was never a chore for his mother. It was a blessing. “Are there any more ideas about it yet?”

“No. Mum and Dad have spoken about it, but they’ve not come up with the plans yet.” The mood turned sour and Mari collapsed down onto his bed, spreading out her arms. “I think it’s been put on hold while this whole thing blows over. It wouldn’t be good to open up a new establishment while the rumours are spreading about us.”

“It could be publicity,” Yuuri argued, but it felt like ash in his mouth. In his next breath, he said, “But she wouldn’t want people coming just because of the rumours.”

“Come for the rumours, stay for the cooking.” Mari turned her head to him, eyebrows raised. “I went into town today. Not as many people were talking behind my back. Only half of them were whispering things about me. And only two people approached me about it too. Maybe it’s actually dying down.”

“I thought it would take longer.”

“Something else has taken their interest. It won’t be long before another party is hosted and someone announces big news, or the new scandal makes its way through town. Yuuri, I think we might actually be on our way to becoming old news.”                                                                      

“I’d rather not be news at all.”

“We’ll fade back into being nothing again, Yuuri. They’ll all forget about us.” She stood up and handed out her hand, waiting for Yuuri to take it. They hadn’t held hands for years. “C’mon little bro. While we’re up, may as well go get some food. I’m hungry.”

As if called by her words, he felt his stomach growl. He latched onto her sleeve, another thing he hadn’t done for years. “Sounds like a good idea.”

The house was dark, save for a few columns of light that cascaded out of the open doorways. It striped along the hall like a starry tiger, burning against the wood. The halls were quiet, pierced only occasionally by the parade of the night guards and the sneaks of the night staff. They bowed low as Yuuri and Mari walked by, wishing them a good night.

The kitchen was dark too until Mari switched on the blinding lights. The mix of white and silver flared against his eyes. The fridge hummed loudly in the corner.

Mari opened the back door with the hand covered in a bandage. “I need a smoke first. Make me something please?”

Yuuri cast one look to the darkness before he turned to the fridge. He opened it, the light irritating his already-sensitive eyes. He blinked it away before he scanned the food. “Sandwiches sound good?”

“I want ice cream.”

“Ice cream it is.” He took the tub from the freezer compartment, feeling the cold burn like fire against his skin. A cold fog escaped the drawer. The cold was hitting from all sides, attacking him from the fridge and creeping in from the open door behind him. “How many scoops?”

The bowls clattered as he took two from the shelf. They were patterned in splatters of colours, no real thought given to them. They had been presents from Mari and Yuuri as children to their parents on their birthdays. It might have meant to be a pattern to him once, in Yuuri’s childish mind, but it no longer resembled anything. It was beginning to fade after the years of being washed.

He opened the ice cream lid and scooped out a line roughly. With all of his strength, he could just about do it, though it ached his elbow and his shoulder to do it. He should have waited for it to soften a little bit.

“Mari?” he called. “I asked how many scoops you want.”

Strangely, his talkative sister wasn’t talking. He dropped the scooper and turned around. The open doorway was empty. Where she had been, there was nothing but shadows. His heart dropped.

“Mari?” There was an edge of panic in his voice as he rushed to the doorway.

It took too long for his eyes to adjust to the darkness outside. He blinked away the annoyance, searching desperately through the darkness for his sister. As the black began to change into shapes, he saw her standing a little away from the door, staring into the woods.

“Mari?” he asked again, voice a little calmer this time. He moved to stand beside her. Her cigarette was still burning in her hand, the un-tapped ash about to fall. “What are you doing?”

Mari turned suddenly, flinching at Yuuri’s voice. It was almost as if she hadn’t heard him coming. Odd, Yuuri thought, since Mari was always so observant. Her pupils were large, almost completely taking over her brown irises.

“Are you okay?” Yuuri asked, settling a calm hand on her arm. He almost expected to be greeted with an ice cold touch, but Mari was still warm. “What happened?”

She turned back to the woods, narrowing her eyes to see better in the darkness. “I saw someone in the trees.”

“It could have been an animal,” he assured, though he didn’t doubt Mari. She was good at seeing things, her judgement unclouded by paranoia. “Or maybe because it’s windy.”

“No, this didn’t move like the wind, and it didn’t move like an animal either. And there was more than one.”

“M-More than one? What do you mean?” His skin began to shiver. He turned to the trees. But there wasn’t anything he could see. The branches rustled in the breeze, the shadows similar to the shapes of the trees. “I can’t see anything.”

“I saw more than one person moving. I know I did Yuuri, there are people in the woods.”

“I believe you, Mari.” And he did. He trusted Mari not only because she was his sister and not only because she had no cause to lie, but because she was a brilliant guard. She saw things he didn’t, heard things, knew things that he couldn’t. “What do we do?”

“Go call the guards, Yuuri.”

Flashes of Mari’s previous attack sparked at the back of his mind. He found himself unable to breathe suddenly, his feet unable to lift from the ground.

“Yuuri,” Mari said a little harsher. “Go and get the guards. I’ll be fine.”

It was at that moment that Yuuri saw something move in the trees. It shifted independently of the shadows, almost tearing itself from the darkness. He saw another just a little way from it, unmistakably two. Then another. And another. As his eyes adjusted, he saw the silhouettes casting those shadows. More than one person.

“How… many?” he whispered. At the back of his mind, he wondered if they could hear his voice. He also wondered if they’d charge if they heard it. “What are they here for?”

“I think,” Mari began, taking a step back. “I think they’re thieves.”

“Aren’t thieves meant to be quiet? Aren’t they meant to do it without us noticing?”

“Maybe they don’t play like that anymore. Go and get guards, Yuuri.”

“I’m not leaving you alone.”

“Then get some knives from the kitchen,” Mari ordered.

With a second of hesitation, Yuuri did as was told. He ran into the kitchen, spotting the knives gleaming underneath their blinding kitchen lights. He grabbed two before he rushed to stand beside his sister. The silhouettes had moved a little closer, but there was still a distance of a hundred yards between them. He handed one of the knives to his sister.

Every aspect of his training flashed before his mind. His teacher, pushing him to be perfect, to always be better, to do everything right the first time because in an actual fight, there would be no other chances. The knife was held tightly in his hand, fingers sitting flush against the hilt. He centred his gravity, balanced tightly on the balls of his feet as he readied himself for an escape.

“The patrol should be around in a moment,” Mari whispered, moving to stand closer to him. “We just need to make sure we hold it until then.”

A moment? He had no idea what that meant. He knew how good their guards were, with regular patrols that hardly let anything in the first time. A moment would be a very small amount of time. But as the seconds ticked on, as the silhouettes marched slowly forwards, a moment felt like a damned eternity.

He took a deep breath, watching them move, feeling his heart hammer in his ribcage.

“It’s going to be okay, Yuuri,” his sister assured.

Rather than feeling scared though, he was steadily burning rage in the middle of his stomach. Behind him, his home was standing. Before him, the enemy. He stood guard between.

“Are they here for it?” he asked, awaiting the answer that would burn the rage higher.

“It’s the only thing they’d be here for.”

Yuuri gripped the hilt harder, feeling the tension in his jaw ache his muscles. “Why can’t they just leave us alone?”

“They have the scent now. They’re going to keep coming after it until they don’t think it’s worth it.”

“It isn’t worth it.”

Mari glanced quickly at them. “You’ve had it so long, Yuuri, you only remember it as sentimental. It’s worth a lot of money. We have to make them believe it’s not.”

“And how do we do that?”

Before them, the silhouettes stopped. One by one, they formed a line. They were still hidden underneath the shadows, the moonlight not quite reaching them. Yuuri wanted them to come a little more forwards, just so he could identify them.

His parents had warned him about thieves. They were determined, resourceful and hidden. He most likely wouldn’t know it was one until he was missing something. He liked to think he was more observant than that, but perhaps he wasn’t so sure.

But these weren’t keeping it a secret. They were facing him, unidentified but undisguised. He couldn’t help but wonder why.

“Now’s not the time to think about it,” Mari replied, now more on guard as the line stopped moving. “We’ll think about it once these bastards are gone.”

It was intimidating, to say the least. He did not know if any had weapons. He did not know how good they were at fighting. He did not know their plans. Their teacher had always told them to collect as much information as they could before they faced against an enemy – it could be the difference between life or death. That wasn’t an option now.

“If they run forward, we don’t meet them. Okay, Yuuri?” Mari instructed. “We stick our ground. They might just want to intimidate.”

“Okay.”

“Maybe they’ll turn around. If one of them runs into the house, or if all of them do, just let them go and we go to find the guards. They won’t find it. We won’t be hurt.”

“Okay.”

But the silhouettes didn’t move again. They stuck where they stood in the faded moonlight, brushed by the cool breeze above the dancing grass. They did not attack. They did not talk. They did nothing.

If their purpose was to intimidate, Yuuri hated to say that he thought it worked. He’d been so strung up for weeks now about what might happen, about groups like these coming to get his treasure. The stress had been filtering through his veins until he was so paranoid he thought people close to him were working for the thieves. He’d even been rude to Viktor upon their first meeting, and many more besides. All because he thought that this group would work their way to him in disguise. He’d been wrong. They did not give him blinding smiles and pretty words. They did not try to get close to him by playing nice. They showed up in the dead of night, prepared for a fight.

It wasn’t what he had been expecting, but it was something he was better trained for.

But they weren’t moving. They stood. They stared. They were frozen.

“What are they doing?” Yuuri asked.

“I… I don’t know,” Mari replied, though her voice sounded surer than Yuuri’s. “Maybe… I think they might be making a statement?”

“A statement?”

“I think.”

A statement of what? That they were here? That they wanted what was in the house?

“Is this a claim?” Yuuri asked.

Mari shrugged. “I don’t know. How do thieves claim? I haven’t heard of this happening before.”

“Maybe it’s new? Or maybe claiming is different for every group?”

“I don’t know, Yuuri.”

Yuuri heard their guards beginning to arrive. Their footsteps bounced across the halls, echoing down the corridors until they escaped the kitchen. They were coming closer and closer, their steps heavy, arms probably laden with weapons.

The sound travelled. It reached the line of thieves before Yuuri could think about it.

They all turned away slowly, as if the threat was nothing to them. Before the guards managed to reach Yuuri and Mari, the thieves melted in with the shadows as they ghosted underneath the trees. Yuuri narrowed his eyes, attempting identify their silhouettes still, but there was nothing there.

They were pushed behind a line of guards, but it wasn’t much use. By the time the guards had them safe, they noticed the lack of threat.

Mari began explaining the situation to them. Yuuri thought he should listen too, just so that he could hear the way she tore apart the story and managed to evaluate every single thread as she so often did. He sometimes wondered if she should go along the career of guard rather than the heiress of the spa empire their parents were making. She was very good at it.

But he didn’t listen to it. His eyes weren’t tearing away from where they had disappeared. Something about it unnerved him, sending shivers up his spine until his skin broke out into bumps. He still felt as though they hadn’t disappeared at all, but were waiting and watching just out of sight. He could almost feel their stares upon him but decided it was just his paranoia playing up again. He was tired, he told himself. He was just tired.

A few branches moved to his right. It moved independently of the breeze and it had the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. It was only a moment. He hadn’t seen properly. He convinced himself he was just seeing things again, that his heart race was too quick, that he couldn’t breathe properly from the adrenaline. He continued watching it and it didn’t move again.

A guard asked if he was alright. He said he was, though it sounded hollow to even his ears.

He was guided back in and encouraged to have a cup of something hot, he opted for tea. They knew how important what they were keeping was to him. What they were hired to guard, what they patrolled for, was the most important to him than the others in the family. Of course, it was important to them too, but to Yuuri it was beyond measure.

After some assurance, they left him. Mari stuck with him, not saying anything but reading through a magazine.

She’d been shaken. He could see it in the way her eyes flickered towards the windows and at every sound that shook their silence.

Somewhere in the night, their parents joined them. They gave them quick hugs and sat in the chairs beside them, not saying much about what happened. They continued as if nothing had happened, but Yuuri saw the way they also eyed the door and the windows.

No one slept that night.

***

“You look a little distracted.”

Viktor jumped at his voice and blinked away the confusion. “I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

Yuuri nodded, feeling the bags underneath his own eyes.

Viktor had called him out suddenly in the morning. He’d been antsy and requested that they go to a café in the town. Yuuri thought it was because he was still thinking about their kiss, but as time wore on it felt a little stranger. While both the memory of their kiss and of the line of thieves last night crashed together, Viktor seemed to be fading away.

He knew those signs. His past mistake had done the same thing before things went horribly wrong. No communication, faded attention when they were together, antsy. The only difference with Viktor was that he had been the first to speak and he didn’t seem at all interested in the treasure Yuuri kept.

Viktor had given him a quick hug upon their meeting outside the café, hesitated for just a second before he guided Yuuri into the building with a hand on the small of Yuuri’s back.

Even after the kiss, Yuuri’s attraction for the man hadn’t lessened. Every touch of Viktor’s sent his mind spinning. He’d been a little disappointed that there hadn’t been a second kiss.

“Any reason why?” Yuuri asked. Even Viktor’s voice had him mesmerised. He wanted the older man to keep speaking. 

Viktor’s eyes flickered to Yuuri’s, settling oddly there. Yuuri thought it odd, but passed it off as lack of sleep. The bags underneath Viktor’s eyes had a purple tint to it, something that came with stress. He wondered what it was Viktor had been so stressed about that he didn’t sleep. There wasn’t much he knew about the man, only that he came from another town and had come to visit someone with no end date. Other than that, his life was a mystery to Yuuri.

“No real reason,” Viktor replied, running his hands down his face in an effort to wake himself up. “Just one of those nights. I had… a lot of nightmares.”

“Nightmares? What about?”

“About…” Viktor hesitated. Yuuri wondered if he didn’t want to say. He knew many of his own dreams had been difficult to tell other people because they might sound ridiculous to anyone else, or if they were embarrassing to talk about. Viktor sighed and glanced out of the window again. “Just about a lot of people getting to something before I do.”

“Oh.” Yuuri wasn’t going to pretend he knew, but Viktor wasn’t giving him anymore. He decided he wasn’t going to push. “Do you get nightmares often?”

“No. But they come every now and again.”

Yuuri’s heart wrenched. He could hear Viktor’s sigh in his voice, the way he hitched as he spoke. Whatever stress was getting to Viktor, he wanted to end it.

“But that doesn’t matter,” Viktor continued, dropping his hands to give Yuuri a tired smile. “I’m here with you. There’s no where else I’d rather be.” His eyes scanned over Yuuri’s face. “You look tired too. Did you not sleep well?”

Yuuri shook his head. He wasn’t sure what to say. A group of thieves marched in front of his house and disappeared after leaving their claim? Would Viktor even understand that? Would it scare him? He fiddled with his fingers. “Just one of those nights.”

There was something that flashed in Viktor’s eyes. It passed in a second and Yuuri wasn’t sure what it was, or if he had really seen it, but it made him blink. Electric flashed through his veins. He wasn’t sure if it scared him or intrigued him, but by the time he thought about it, Viktor’s face was back to his smile.

“That’s a shame. I hope you get a better night sleep tonight,” Viktor said, holding out his hand and softly clasping Yuuri’s on the table surface.

Yuuri’s fright was chased away as soon as they touched. He watched where their fingers were interlacing, feeling the way it made his blood rush in his ears. He glanced up to Viktor, gulping when he saw the way Viktor’s eyes sparkled.

Viktor leaned his head against his hand. “Maybe you’d sleep better if I was there with you.”

Yuuri felt a blush grow on his skin, dusting along his cheeks. His first instinct was to deny it and push the embarrassment away. But since their kiss, he’d been thinking about how gorgeous Viktor was and how someone like Yuuri was lucky to have his attention. Viktor could have his pick – Yuuri had seen many approaching him for his time and with hopes for more – but Viktor had given Yuuri his company. He flirted shamelessly. Yuuri found himself wanting more.

He tilted his head in a way he hoped was somewhat close to seductive and gave Viktor a one-sided grin. “I don’t think I’d get any sleep at all. I’d be far too distracted.” Inside of himself, he felt the embarrassment of such words burning. But there was another part of himself, a part that had been seeping at the edge since he had become a teenager, that was screaming at him that he should do more. It filled him with confidence, burning away the shame and the hesitation.

Viktor blinked back the shock, a small, paler blush filling his own cheeks. “Oh, Yuuri, if you’re trying to convince me, it’s working.”

“And if I am?” Yuuri asked innocently. He stared directly into Viktor’s eyes, loving the way that the blue stared back. They were the colour of pool water, of waters in warm climates, of open skies when they were clear. It had been one of the first things that had attracted Yuuri at the party. They were so different from his own boring brown.

Viktor leaned forward, biting the end of his finger. “I’ll have to do something about it,” he whispered. “But what, I wonder? I could drag you out of here and hold you up against a wall. Or I could let you take the lead. Or we could both battle for dominance. I wonder.”

The words had sparks lacing up Yuuri’s spine until he could barely breathe. His chest was getting tight. His lips opened slightly.

He knew he should have been thinking more about this, especially after his last mistake. But Viktor was so different. Viktor wasn’t hiding his wants or feelings. Viktor was encouraging Yuuri to do the same, and Yuuri had always wanted to do that. To finally be out about his feelings, to do as his sister said and just play without thinking about consequences, to dive in deep. Maybe Viktor was the one to do that with.

Viktor’s eyes flickered beside Yuuri, drawn to the café door opening. For a moment, the atmosphere was broken. Yuuri watched as Viktor’s eyes widened, all seduction gone. He seemed surprised.

Yuuri turned in his seat. A group of three had come in through the front door. They were all people he had never seen before. The first was the most eye-catching. He was tall and muscled, with locks of dark hair on top of his head, shaved sides and thick eyebrows to match. He had a smug smirk on his face that Yuuri had always thought only the rich families could wear and he was directing it directly to Viktor.

He turned back to the man before him. “Do you know him?”

He shouldn’t have asked. He could tell by the ice in Viktor’s gaze that he did, and they were not on friendly terms. Yuuri felt as if cold water had been poured on him suddenly upon seeing how all the warmth from Viktor’s face had burned away.

“Not really,” Viktor first said.

Yuuri felt his heart sink at the lie. Viktor must have seen it when he glanced back to Yuuri, because he shook his head and amended his answer.

“I mean,” he corrected, “you could say that. We don’t get on, though.”

If Yuuri was a little relieved by the truthful answer, he didn’t show it. “Oh.” He turned to look at the three.

They were sat at a table beside the window, glancing over every now and then, clearly talking about them. Yuuri felt it burn his blood, reminding him of the years he had suffered through in the middle of parties. Whispered words, hidden behind hands, flickering glances and gossip flying through the air like arrows. He already felt a little hatred towards these people.

He turned back to Viktor. “Want to get out of here?”

Viktor seemed a little unfocused. He kept glancing over at their table.

Yuuri took an executive decision. He stood up and grabbed Viktor’s hand tightly, drawing his attention back to him. “Let’s go, Viktor.” He almost dragged the man from his chair.

The room’s noise faded as they rushed from the café, he sound of their chairs slamming against the floor piercing. Yuuri didn’t look at the three at the window table as he tugged Viktor along behind him, only concerned that the older man was uncomfortable.

He didn’t stop until they were a few streets away. Viktor didn’t say anything, but Yuuri felt the way his fingers tightened In between his own, almost appreciatively.

“Yuuri?” Viktor asked once they slowed down a little. His voice sounded surer, back to its ease.

“Did you want to separate here?” Yuuri asked. He asked it simply, but as the words left his mouth he felt as if there was a hidden meaning, an answer he wanted indirectly.

“No,” Viktor answered without hesitation. “I don’t.”

Yuuri nodded. “Neither do I.”

“Where are we going?”

Yuuri felt the words lodge in his throat, but pushed them out. He was sure about this, surer than he had been of anything for a long time. “Back to mine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved hearing all of the theories from last chapter! They all came out at once! haha Maaaaybe I've been too generous and given too many hints (not to say if anyone got it right though, you'll just have to find out ;) ) 
> 
> I hope everyone is having a good week! It's sooooo hot.... Please remember to take care of yourselves in this heat! I honestly can't count how much water I've had in the last month... I just know i've needed the toilet more than I feel like I ever have before. Is that too much sharing? 
> 
> Here is chapter 8! I can't believe we're here already! I hope you enjoyed, and see you next week for the next update. 
> 
> If you'd like to keep up with updates or just chat, you can find me on tumblr 
> 
> [Here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	9. Viktor, Are You Slipping?

Viktor knew he was lucky. He even knew just how lucky. Incredibly so.

The man tugging on his hand and leading him through the streets was more than he had ever expected. Yuuri was honest, patient and loving when he didn’t know it himself. He’d given Viktor a chance to speak the truth back in that café, a chance he didn’t expect to have – not after the hurt he saw cross the man’s face.

Viktor’s heart had clenched at the sight. Yuuri’s pain flashed over his expression, and it had Viktor regretting every choice he had ever made in his life that made him what he was. It reminded him of what he was here for. It almost killed him not to confess.

And if he did confess, would Yuuri even give him that second chance? Would he forgive Viktor for the truth and they’d be able to make another path? Or would he destroy all of his chances?

It scared Viktor to think about it. That was how he knew he had come too far.

He was incredibly lucky to have found someone like Yuuri. He was incredibly unlucky for it to happen like this.

He glanced backwards. He half expected to see JJ and his two acquaintances following. Perhaps they were, but the shadows were free of silhouettes this time.

The nightmare of last night flashed through his mind. He’d been so close to jumping from the trees and placing himself between the thieves and Yuuri. It would have given so much away, but he’d come so close. In the end, the other thieves had turned away with only a warming and an intimidation, and Viktor had sighed relief. JJ had laughed beside him before vanishing into the treeline.

He hadn’t expected to see them show themselves in the middle of the day, so close to Yuuri. The threat was there, and it only made Viktor feel worse.

He tightened his grip in Yuuri’s hand, allowing the soft skin to ground him and remind him of who he was with. Yuuri cast a comforting smile over his shoulder.

They didn’t speak as they walked back to Yuuri’s home. Viktor didn’t want to shatter the bittersweet peace, and he doubted Yuuri really knew what to say.

The house was quiet save from the pottering of the maids and the employees who were keeping out of the way. Yuuri kept an eye out and snuck Viktor in through the front door, keeping low as they rushed up the steps.

Viktor could almost see echoed images of himself sneaking these halls and stairs, that first night and a few since, without Yuuri knowing. He wondered how Yuuri would feel about that? Curious? Or as if his personal space had been invaded? Questions would follow. Why had he been sneaking? Everything would come out. Everything would break like a fragile cup to the ground.

As Yuuri led him quietly to his room, Viktor thought about that broken cup. Perhaps with Yuuri’s care, they could fix it again.

But there would always be cracks. There would always be the memory of it. Always a lingering ghost.

A need devoured Viktor then. A need for the truth to never come out and a need for Yuuri. It manifested itself almost aggressively. As soon as Yuuri’s door closed, he pressed the shorter man to the surface and kissed the breath from his lips.

Viktor both loved and regretted it when he felt how Yuuri melted into it. Poor Yuuri, unknowing. Like blind prey.

Viktor kissed him harder to chase away the thoughts polluting his mind.

Yuuri’s arms circled his back, clinging onto his shirt and Viktor loved that even more. He pressed his body against Yuuri’s, caging him in, and listened to every single moan that slipped from the man’s lips.

All too late, he was realising what was happening. All too late, he realised there was nothing he could do.

Love had always been a sensitive topic for Viktor. He’d never known a parent’s love. He’d never known the love of a partner. He was steadily learning the love of a family. He was also learning that some loves could be superficial, such as the people who approached him for a ‘good time’ simply because of his looks or how he would be seen on their arm. Real love. Fake love. He was still learning the differences.

He knew he loved Yakov. He loved Mila. He loved Georgi and Yurio and Chris. He loved Makkachin. He knew they loved him back, even Yurio in his odd, silent way.

None of it compared to the love he felt for Yuuri.

This was a burning love. It had more angles and more reasons than any he had felt before. It had more colours. More pain. More of everything. He felt it blazing through his veins until it made him want to scream and grin at the same time.

He could sing and dance about it. He could curl up and hide because of it.

His inner-turmoil was cut off as he was pushed away. He thought the worst at first, that perhaps Yuuri had heard all of his worries or had figured something out. But then he saw the burn in Yuuri’s eyes, the dusting of pink along his cheeks, the way he was looking at Viktor.

Viktor had been stared at with lust many times. It had never affected him. Now it did. He felt as if the tables had been turned and that this time, he was the prey waiting to be eaten. He liked that thought. He felt a stirring within him.

Yuuri didn’t give him a chance to think more. He placed his hands on Viktor’s chest and pushed him down onto the bed, jumping on his hips before Viktor could understand what was happening.

“How about a distraction?” Yuuri whispered, voice an octave lower, breathless. It did things to Viktor that he never thought he’d ever be able to feel. “I can see you’re still thinking.”

He didn’t think Yuuri knew just how much of a distraction he was. Viktor was in this house, and he should have been looking. Instead, Yuuri had snuck him into his room and had Viktor’s thoughts lingering on far for intimate ideas.

“Distract me always,” Viktor said, leaning up to kiss a mark into the skin on Yuuri’s neck. His pulse was warm and beating underneath his lips. His scent had Viktor turning dizzy. Too tempted, he slipped his hands underneath Yuuri’s top and touched the soft warm skin of his hips. The man shuddered on top of him.

Viktor had had a lot of people showing him attention before. Each one of them wanted to be like this with him. Some he had given in to, just out of curiosity. But none ever felt like this. Others made him feel hollow, living through the night knowing that he was just a curiosity for them too. Nothing solid. Nothing intimate. Just nothing at all. But with Yuuri, he felt different. Yuuri might not have felt the same as him, at least not as strongly, but there was something. He saw it in the way the man looked at him, as if he was actually seeing Viktor and not something that would answer a question.

Yuuri held him tightly, bending his back so that his neck was more open for Viktor to leave marks upon. His soft breaths and gasps had Viktor wanting more. He wanted to stay here, away from all his problems, to stay and distract himself with Yuuri for all of time. He knew it couldn’t happen, but he wished for it all the same.

A desire began to burn through him, stronger than he had ever felt before. It burned in his stomach, blurring his mind until all he could see, hear and smell was Yuuri. He licked his lips and pulled the top from Yuuri’s torso, overwhelmed by the exposure of skin. Yuuri’s skin was so much more tanned than Viktor. He had stretchmarks along his stomach, hips, chest and arms, shining under the low light filtering through the window. Viktor leaned forwards and pressed a small kiss to the one on his shoulder.

Yuuri pulled on Viktor’s top, frowning until Viktor finally pulled it off. He was about to lean and press more kisses to Yuuri’s skin again, but Yuuri stopped him with a finger pressed to his lips. Yuuri gave him a small smirk before he replaced that finger with his lips, pressing softly until it became hungrier, breath ghosting over Viktor’s cheeks. Yuuri’s hands ran up his stomach, muscles defined from training and sneaking around. It almost tugged Viktor back to reality, remembering what he was, but Yuuri continued to distract him.

Yuuri’s hands appreciatively moved over his skin and muscles. Viktor liked how the other man was showing attention to the work he had gone through to get his body like this. He stroked his own hands on Yuuri’s, the muscles on him leaner and with softer parts around his hips and stomach. Viktor never was one that cared about the bodies of others, preferring their personality over anything. Perhaps it was because he liked Yuuri’s personality so much that he loved the touch of Yuuri’s body. He loved to caress his skin, feel every curve, every soft and harsh edge, and memorise each movement.

Yuuri leaned back. “I knew you were well built under your clothes, but I didn’t realise it was like this,” he whispered, his eyes clouded in lust. “What did you say you were again?”

Viktor swallowed hard. “I do a lot of training.”

“Like the gym?”

“More like parkour,” Viktor replied carefully.

“Oh. A bit different than dancing.”

Not wanting to talk more about the subject, Viktor rolled until Yuuri was lying beneath him. It distracted both of them well enough. Yuuri, topless, surrounded by soft bedding while his skin blushed a pretty pink had Viktor almost passing out. He wanted to take a picture, to paint it as a mural, to ingrain it so heavily into his memory than he could think of nothing else.

He pressed more kisses to Yuuri’s mouth, to his jaw, his chest and neck, everywhere he could as he danced his hand down Yuuri’s body to settle on his trousers. He leaned back, waiting for Yuuri’s consent. The man nodded, his glasses askew as he moved.

Viktor carefully pulled the rest of his clothing off, desperate to see how the light settled on Yuuri. Like a hunger, it made him giddy as he leaned back on his knees to admire Yuuri’s naked body. It dried out his mouth, had his heart racing, eyes unsure on where to settle.

Yuuri opened his knees, giving Viktor a quick glimpse of more intimate places, before he pushed at Viktor’s clothed hip with his right foot.

“I can’t be the only one,” Yuuri begged, his voice just as breathless as Viktor felt.

He didn’t need to be told twice. Viktor stood in a way he knew looked good, his body ready to be bathed in sunlight. He wanted Yuuri to feel as desperate as him, as completely mesmerised with Viktor’s body as he felt for Yuuri’s. Slowly, teasing, he took off his own clothes. He watched as Yuuri’s eyes followed his every move, mouth slightly agape.

He loved the way the man looked at him. He wanted to memorise it. There were many things he wanted to memorise about Yuuri, about this situation, about every moment since they had met.

He stood tall when he was finally free of every piece of clothing, allowing time for Yuuri to glance over his naked body. He felt a blush rising on his cheeks too, almost mimicking the same blush on Yuuri’s, but didn’t hide himself. Yuuri seemed very appreciative.

Slowly growing impatient, Viktor walked closer to the bed and leaned over Yuuri again, moving so that their skins touched and they shared warmth.

Yuuri smirked in a way that had Viktor pausing for a moment. The younger man said, “That’s another part of you I underestimated with you clothed.”

Viktor found himself chuckling. “Oh? Have you been thinking about me naked a lot?”

“You might have appeared in some dreams,” Yuuri answered, wrapping his arms and legs around Viktor until there was no escape.

Not that he wanted to. If he could, he’d ask Yuuri to entrap him forever. He scraped his teeth lightly along Yuuri’s ear, chuckling at the shudders it brought to Yuuri’s body. “You’re so much more gorgeous and beautiful than in any of my dreams. I could explore you for the rest of the day, and for the whole night.”

“I can’t be that patient. I need a little more, Viktor.” Yuuri grinded his hips upwards.

Viktor felt like teasing, though he himself felt his patience beginning to be pulled tightly. He grabbed Yuuri’s hips, pressing him back down, as he slowly began to kiss along Yuuri’s body, leading down until his teeth were scraping along Yuuri’s lower-belly. Yuuri’s hands gripped his hair, his breath coming out in short, sharp bursts.

Yuuri was always beautiful. Every expression was something beyond words for Viktor, but seeing Yuuri as he was now, as their eyes met, almost lost to a passion that he’d never seen in anyone else, with pupils so large that his brown eyes were almost blown into nothing, with his skin tinged a pretty pink and his mouth gasping out until the air between them was warm – something about it had a need stirring in Viktor that he knew would never end.

Viktor knew that when he fell for something, he fell hard. This wasn’t any different. He’d fallen for Yuuri, and now he felt like it would never be enough to just speak to him. He wanted to devour him. He wanted to see every expression the man could ever make. He wanted to pull everything he could from the man lying down before him.

He pressed a teasing kiss to the inside of the man’s thigh. There were old stretch scars still shining on his skin, longer and thicker than many Viktor had seen before. He bit the skin lightly, chuckling when it had Yuuri almost writhing.

“Viktor,” the man whined with just a hint of a snap in his voice. He glared down at Viktor between his legs, caught between a demand and embarrassment.

Viktor smirked up at him, knowing exactly what it was Yuuri was hoping for but was too shy to ask for. He leaned forward, meeting Yuuri’s eyes still, and licked up a stipe over Yuuri’s member. He loved the sound it drew from the man’s lips, the way he gasped, the way his hands clutched tighter in Viktor’s hair.

“Hold on tight,” Viktor advised, grinning up at the panting man before him. “I’m not stopping until I’m satisfied.”

Yuuri surprised him with a mirrored grin. “Aren’t I meant to be satisfied too?”

Viktor bit lightly on the muscle between Yuuri’s member and leg, scraping his teeth along the man’s sensitive skin. “Oh, you will be. By the end of the night, you’ll be satisfied more times than you can count.”

“Promises, promises, Viktor. I’ll have to see about that.” Yuuri’s grip in his hair tightened slightly, his hands pushing Viktor back to where he wanted him. “Just you wait until it’s your turn. You won’t be able to think straight.”

Viktor breathed over Yuuri, loving the way it had him twitching. “I look forward to it.”

***

As a nocturnal human himself, Viktor found the morning to be destructive. Most of his jobs were done at night, when the darkness hid him and the people he should be worried about were asleep. But they woke up when the sun rose over the horizon. The risks increased.

He felt the same as the sun filtered in through Yuuri’s room and woke him up from a muddled sleep.

He rubbed his eyes with his left hand, his right somehow heavier. He tilted his head on the pillow and glanced over. Yuuri was lying half on his chest, his head resting on Viktor’s arm and his face nuzzled into Viktor’s neck. Viktor’s arm was around his shoulders, their hands held on Yuuri’s hip. Viktor was very sure they’d both wake with dead arms.

Yuuri was snoring lightly, breath tickling Viktor’s bare chest. Their legs were intertwined, bodies tightly together, covers splayed around them. The light seeping in landed perfectly on Yuuri’s body, almost shining like liquid gold.

Viktor admired it. He saw every part that he had explored thoroughly the previous day and part-way through the night. Every inch he had touched, licked, teased in every way he could. And every moment of it had reminded him of how he felt.

His heart hammered in his chest at the thought. He rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

Now out of the haze of lust, the morning brought back its destruction. It brought regret. Not for the time he had spent with Yuuri, but for what he was and how they had met. No doubt Yuuri’s thoughts would be light. His were heavy. His were filled with treasure and a job he had been sent to do.

A job he wasn’t sure he could go through with anymore. With JJ and the other thieves here though, it complicated things.

Yuuri shifted in his hold. He held the smaller man tighter, burying his face in the black locks. They were soft against his skin, tickling his nose. Yuuri stretched slightly, the cutest noises leaving his lips. Viktor wanted to hug him closer until neither of them could be apart from one another.

But Yuuri began to wake. He raised his head, blinking away the sleep as he peered through narrowed eyes. He stretched his legs out until his toes almost touched the bottom of the bed. He rolled until he was lying on Viktor’s stomach and grinned up at him.

“Morning,” he greeted.

Viktor couldn’t help but smile back, feeling the warmth of the morning replace the destruction. He ran his hand through Yuuri’s hair, eyes scanning over every inch of his face, from the indents on his nose from his glasses, to the small scars from old spots in his skin. “Good morning, beautiful.”

“Oh, ‘beautiful’? It’s not often I get called that.”

“Then I’ll call you it as many times as I deem appropriate to make up for it.”

Yuuri paused. “Do you really think I’m beautiful?”

“Beyond. It’s the only word that I think comes close to describing you. I probably need to make my own, but I’m no linguist.”

Yuuri laughed and rested his head on Viktor’s chest as the last dregs of sleep vanished from his body. His body rose and dropped with every breath Viktor breathed. Viktor watched him, looking as his eye lashes touched his cheeks, how his eyes would flutter as he woke properly, how his lips were still flushed a deeper red even the morning after.

“What do you want to do today?” Yuuri asked a little hesitantly.

Viktor knew what he should do today. It manifested itself as a little bug named JJ, galloping around town with his entourage and creating more problems for him. He’d spent enough time hidden away with Yuuri, being distracted and causing such distractions. He knew JJ would be getting impatient. He’d be planning ways to destroy everything with Yuuri now. He’d plan sneaks into the house that would give everything away, try and figure out what the treasure was in the most obvious ways possible, and perhaps even try to sever the connection between Viktor and Yuuri.

JJ knew about their close relationship already. He saw it in the way JJ was smirking at him in the café. No doubt he was thinking that Viktor was only doing it to try and figure out the secret and would try to get in the middle of it to stop him. But it hadn’t even begun like that. Viktor never had that intention. Now it was even more deeply complex. Now it was a mess.

He knew he should be dealing with that today and making sure that JJ wasn’t messing things up. But he didn’t want to. He wanted to hide further away from them and pretend nothing was happening. Perhaps, if he tried hard enough, he could imagine himself a life as one of the rich families of the town who just so happened to come across Yuuri at a party. They had hit it off and come to this conclusion. That was it.

But it wasn’t.

“I have a few things I have to do,” he replied, though it pained him to say it. He glanced around the room, hoping to avoid Yuuri’s look of disappointment. He’d spent hours in this room, and yet he hadn’t looked at it properly. It had an odd texture to it, layers of the old and the new, with paintings from centuries ago to the modern clothes Yuuri had hung from the hooks beside them.

Posters of theatre productions and ballets lined the walls, some small and some larger. Viktor wasn’t sure what they were of, but he thought they were beautiful in their own way.

“Oh,” Yuuri whispered. “What sort of things?”

There was an old dog basket in the corner of the room. It was hidden behind a chair and some clothing, but Viktor recognised it all the same. It was worn and discoloured from a lot of use, some dust lay around it, thin cobwebs strung between it and the wall. Viktor’s heart tightened slightly. He turned back to Yuuri.

“I’ve got to meet a few people.”

Yuuri’s eyebrows knitted together. “One of them isn’t the guy from the café, is it?”

Viktor found it hard to lie to Yuuri outright. He didn’t know why. It was easy for him to lie to other people, but he didn’t want to with Yuuri. It wasn’t just his big eyes, or the way he seemed to immediately disconnect at even the slightest lie, or Viktor’s guilt, but it was just that he couldn’t. He didn’t want to. He could be honest with his thief family, and it felt the same with Yuuri. Odd how that worked, he thought. Odd that what started off as a lie now felt so strained.

He couldn’t say anything and Yuuri glared.

“No.”

Viktor blinked. “No what?”

Yuuri sat up on Viktor’s hips. Had Viktor not felt like he was about to be scolded, he’d have taken in the sight and teased the man until the blush would have risen above his tanned skin.

“I saw how you acted yesterday, Viktor. Why would you want to meet someone who obviously upsets you so much?”

Viktor wanted to argue. JJ didn’t _upset_ him. No one upset him. Rather, it was actions that upset him. JJ, so close to Yuuri, so close to breaking apart every effort Viktor had made. It had scared him to think of how closely things had come to toppling down.

He cupped Yuuri’s cheek. “It’s fine. I’ll just meet with him once and talk things through. I’m sure I can fix this and he’ll go.”

Yuuri stroked down Viktor’s arm, drawn to the affection without much thought. “But you seemed so distressed.”

“Believe me, he’s not enough to distress me. I just didn’t expect to see him there.”

“Is he…” Yuuri paused, trying to gather the courage to ask something. “Is he someone you know from where you’re from?”

“Sort of,” Viktor said carefully. “We run in the same… circles. We have acquaintances.”

“Oh, I see. So, he’s from where you are.”

“Yeah. And we don’t get on, really.”

“Oh.”

“He’s just here to annoy me. I just need to talk to him and then he’ll be on his way.”

Yuuri nodded, not knowing what else to say. Viktor didn’t know why but seeing Yuuri quiet like this made him feel strange. He wanted Yuuri happy and confident, not wanting to skip around questions he wasn’t sure he could ask Viktor. But he supposed he was the one making those barriers. He hadn’t ever been straightforward with answers.

He swallowed. “We’re in the same business. My company is better than his, and he tries to get in the way just to annoy me.”

Yuuri seemed to take in the answer, eating up information that he hadn’t known about Viktor like it was a meal. “That’s why he’s here?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. That’s annoying.”

Annoying. A lot more than annoying, Viktor thought, but the absurdity of Yuuri saying it had him laughing. He pressed a quick kiss to the corner of Yuuri’s mouth, taking a moment to admire the man’s unique and beautiful face before he began to get up. “Very annoying,” he agreed. “But nothing that I can’t deal with.”

As Viktor pulled his clothes on, he watched as Yuuri rolled in the crisp white sheets to lay on his stomach. Viktor thought of what an idiot he was for leaving such a scene. _Take your clothes off_ , said a voice in his head. _Just don’t ever leave the room._ He was very tempted.

It felt like he was constraining himself with every bit of clothing he placed back on himself. Clothing had never felt so horrible on him before.

He didn’t want to talk about JJ anymore, but he wasn’t sure what else to divert the conversation onto. His gaze flickered about the room, landing on the dog basket once more. He thought about Makkachin.

“I-I’m sorry for the mess. I need to get rid of it.”

It took a moment for him to realise Yuuri had spoken about the basket. He turned back to the man on the bed, Yuuri’s smile faded into something sad now as he gazed at the item in the corner.

“It’s not messy and you don’t need to get rid of it,” Viktor assured. After a nervous cough, he asked, “Is it for a dog?”

“It was.”

Viktor had feared that. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It was a long time ago.”

Flashes of images from the photobook came to his mind. He swallowed down his guilt. “What was its name?”

Yuuri gave a small chuckle. “Vicchan. Like your name.”

The guilt burned deeper within him. “Oh. How strange.”

“Isn’t it just?”

He turned back to Yuuri and bent low, cupping Yuuri’s chin with his hand and lifting it. He pressed a small kiss that escalated into something deeper as Yuuri returned it. When they pulled back, both were breathing hard. “I’ve got to go,” Viktor said. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Okay.”

Viktor almost made the mistake of telling the man he loved him. It almost slipped out, just like water from a fragile dam. He pushed it back and swallowed it, ashamed by how close he had come. He left before he could say anything else, feeling Yuuri’s gaze on his back until the bedroom door closed.

He was so distracted with his thoughts that he almost walked straight into Mari.

He cursed himself. He hadn’t been paying attention, the worst thing someone like him could do. He tried to slip by, but Mari’s hand wrapped around his arm, stopping him.

“I’ll say this quickly,” she whispered, turning her hard gaze onto him. “Yuuri’s been played with before. If I find out you’re planning to do the same, I’ll make sure that you wear your lungs as a headpiece.”

Viktor had been threatened many times before, but there was something about Mari’s strength in her grip, or the way she stared so intently it felt like hell would rise through the floor, or perhaps it was her choice of words – but whatever it was, it had Viktor’s heart freezing. But it was overruled by the repeating of Mari’s words. _Yuuri’s been played with before._ “Understood,” he replied.

“Good.” She gave one last squeeze to his arm before she let go and walked down the hall, not so much as looking back.

Viktor decided perhaps it would be a better idea to try and avoid the rest of Yuuri’s family. He snuck out of the window.

***

“ _Have you checked their photo albums yet_?”

Viktor was good with his patience. Well, he could be for certain situations. He was good at being patient with people, to gather their trust and to ensnare them before he stole from them.

JJ was a different story.

He’d never known another thief to bluntly call him up and begin trying to gather information from him on the same job. He certainly hadn’t had a thief try to claim they were better at said job though they knew just as much as him.

“Yes,” Viktor bit back. “I have. What’s your point?”

“ _Well. It must be important, right? Who doesn’t take photos of important things? I take loads of myself all the time. And my beautiful fiancée-”_

“I’ve looked, JJ and there’s nothing there.”

_“What sort of person doesn’t take photos of treasures?”_

“Not everyone is like you, JJ. I’m going to hang up now.” He didn’t know why he hadn’t done it before, but he was curious to know how JJ had even gotten his number. He suspected a Yurio being involved. Though Yurio hated the man more than Viktor did, and though Yakov banned them from speaking to other thieving groups, Yurio was always ready to use any means necessary to annoy someone. Annoying Viktor was one of his favourite pass times.

“ _Wait! There has to be something, right? You have to have seen something. Even in the portraits around the house. They ware jewellery in that. Is it any of those?”_

“You’ve been in the house?”

_“Of course. I’m great. But are you sure you haven’t overlooked it?”_

Viktor couldn’t answer. He was ready to ask how JJ had gotten in or when he had done it, almost feeling outraged at the thought. But another thought occurred to him, distracting him. He thought of the amount of pictures he’d seen of the family and how many of those had jewellery in them. How many had he overlooked? How many times had he seen the family wearing them even? Had he really overlooked it? Best place to hide something was on a person, and it could have explained how they walked out without the ex-maid noticing anything.

He thought that couldn’t be possible because Yuuri’s family didn’t seem like it. They only wore jewellery when they were in parties, and even then they didn’t wear the flashiest, the most expensive, the biggest like everyone else did. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe they hid in their simplicity. Maybe Yuuri had even worn it, and Viktor hadn’t noticed. It might have been in the same room he was in just hours ago.

He didn’t think so, but maybe, just maybe, JJ had suggested something that could actually help.

JJ whistled on the other end. “ _You’ve overlooked something as simple as that? Viktor, are you slipping?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weeeeell weeeeeell not a lot in action really, but a lot of progression in the feelings and some more hints towards what the treasure might be (is Viktor realising it?)
> 
> It's been a really busy week so far, and it's only going to get busier, so I do worry than one week or maybe two, I might be a little late in updating. But I'll make sure to keep people updated on my tumblr if there are any problems with updating. 
> 
> I hope everyone is having a good week! Make sure to take care of yourselves!
> 
> You can find my tumblr for updates   
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	10. Ask Viktor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by the soft whynikkiwhy

“Well, I did say play with him. I didn’t expect you to actually do it.”

Yuuri had a smirk on his lips, though his sister couldn’t see it. He was turned away, facing himself in the mirror as he tied a silk tie around his neck. He still felt light on his feet, as if Viktor’s hands were still roaming his body, as if he still had the man close to him. The thought had him unable to stop himself from smiling.

He replied, “Well, it seems to have turned out that way.”

“Are you alright?”

“He’s nice, Mari. He’s really nice,” Yuuri said. His chest swelled at the thought of the things Viktor had done for him, from understanding his initial wariness to his little quirks. He hadn’t run away yet. He hadn’t shown the signs that he was going to make the same mistake as last time either. “I think he really likes you.”

“That’s an understatement. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Are you sure, though, Yuuri? I… I don’t like the timing. He turned up at the same moment the rumours started their wild fire.”

“I know. I was suspicious too. But he hasn’t asked anything about that or anything close to it. He’s only asked about me. He wants to get to know _me_. I think the timing was unfortunate, but I think it’s just that – bad timing.”

Mari didn’t seem convinced, but Yuuri could understand that. She was only looking out for him. She said, “I can’t make decisions for you, but please be careful. I don’t want you getting hurt again.”

“He’s not the same.”

“If you say so.”

Yuuri finished tying his tie and turned around, smoothing down his suit. “How do I look?”

Mari straightened his collar, though it didn’t seem as if she had done much to change it. “You look really good. I haven’t ever seen you this happy to go to a meeting before.”

Yuuri didn’t want to say that it wasn’t the meeting that he was happy about, but just that he was feeling the echoes of the emotions Viktor had given him with his attention. He knew what Mari’s expression would be if he said that. “Just happy that business seems to be moving as normal. Things are finally dying down. Do we know anything about the company dad’s meeting with?”

Mari shrugged her shoulders. “No idea. Mum said it was a rushed scheduled meeting. Maybe it’ll open the way to the restaurant our parents want to open.”

“That would be nice. Mum could spread her katsudon love far and wide with it.”

“Exactly. But yes, you look good. You and dad are going to slay that meeting. I wish I could come, but I have some things to do in town.” She stroked the lapels of Yuuri’s jacket. “It’s a shame. I’m dying of curiosity to know what sort of deal will be struck.”

“It’ll probably be as boring as all the others,” Yuuri assured his sister. “Just old men disregarding me and only speaking to dad, demanding endless amounts of tea and coffee.”

Mari grinned. “Probably. All one biscuit away from popping their buttons on their expensive suits and dying of heart-failure.”

“Exactly. We’ve seen it a hundred times.”

Mari stepped aside. “Good luck. Try not to kill yourself out of boredom.”

“I’ll try my best.”

***

But it turned out that boredom was the least of his problems. He was a little late to the meeting. His father had gone ahead, having left his office early to run some errands and they both agreed to meet at the restaurant at an allocated time. It was busy in town. The roads were filled with cars.

As the time ticked on his watch, he decided to get out and run to where the meeting waited. Sky was an expensive restaurant with waiting lists of months. It rested at the very top of a business company building at the centre of town, overlooking the whole expanse of the area as well as the mountains waiting beyond. It was the highest building around and promised spectacular views and delicious food.

Yuuri had been a few times. He agreed, the views were amazing. But the restaurant was filled with the types of people he didn’t like – the snickering rich that thought of nothing but images. The air was always destroyed with something sour, putrid, as if their words stained everything.

He didn’t notice it this time. He was far too preoccupied with trying to wipe the sweat from his brow and using the reflection of the expensive vases to make sure that his appearance hadn’t been ruined by his rushing. He took a moment to straighten his tie again and brushed the wrinkles from his jacket.

He pushed open the door and it took a moment for him to find his father. A waiter directed him towards the booths in the corner, a more private place with deeper lighting. His father was in deep conversation, papers scattered across the table surface. Yuuri’s view of the new clients was obstructed, however, by the angle of their chairs and the plant pots decorating the sides of the booths.

He rushed to sit beside his father, an apology of his lateness slipping from his lips before he managed to even reach the table.

“Yuuri!” his father greeted with a smile. “Do not worry. We’ve been informed of how busy it’s been below. Good to see you here in one piece. You didn’t need to rush.”

There was a hint of a pink on his cheeks. Yuuri smiled at his dad, noticing the first signs that he’d had a couple of glasses to ease the meeting. He turned to the clients. The world almost seemed to shatter.

Everything melted away. All noise dulled and lights dimmed, his attention centred on the three before him.

He recognised them immediately. They were the same three that had sat in the café, their connection to Viktor so obvious that Yuuri could even feel the acid in the air between them. His hands tightened into fists on his lap, questions lacing his mind.

“Yuuri, this is Mr Leroy, Mr Ji and Miss Yang-”

“Please, Toshiya, call us JJ, Guang Hong and Isabella. I’d love for us to be on first name basis,” said the most confident, a younger man with dark hair trimmed at the sides. He held out his hand. “A pleasure to meet you, Yuuri. Your father was telling me so much about you.”

Yuuri decided he didn’t like how the man acted. He was staring at Yuuri as if there was something he knew, something he was inwardly joking about. He reminded Yuuri of so many of the people he knew from parties. He took the man’s hand anyway, politeness ingrained so heavily into him. “A pleasure, Mr… I mean, JJ.”

The two beside him were a little more quiet. One seemed younger still, small with light coloured hair. He wasn’t meeting Yuuri’s eyes, instead staring deeply at the polish on the table. The other, a young woman, was smiling at them and allowing JJ to take the lead, glancing at him as if he was the only thing in the world.

Yuuri wasn’t sure why, but there was something about the way that they all glanced at him that made him feel on edge, as if they were waiting for something.

“We’ve ordered food already,” JJ informed him. “Your father took the liberty of ordering for you. It should be arriving soon, and then we can discuss business matters over a full stomach.”

“Sounds wonderful, JJ,” Yuuri’s father replied. “I know how my son can get if he’s hungry – I’m afraid he’s taken it after me. His mother is a brilliant cook, we never want to be without her food for very long.”

“You sound like a beautiful family,” JJ grinned. The woman beside him giggled and placed her hand on his, intertwining their fingers.

The smaller one remained quiet, avoiding all of their eyes, though his kept glancing Yuuri’s way. Yuuri felt like he knew the man, or at least had seen him somewhere before – not in the café, some time before that. But he couldn’t place it. His paranoia began to spark again, but he tried to push it down. It was just playing tricks again, he convinced himself.

“I’m sorry you weren’t able to meet my wife and daughter. We’ll invite you for a dinner one day. You must try my wife’s cooking.”

There was a glint in JJ’s eyes that sent a shiver down Yuuri’s spine. The young man said, “I would love that. Your house must be grand. I’m imaging many rooms and endless amounts of precious treasures.”

Yuuri’s father chuckled. “Nothing like that. The only precious treasures I have are my family.”

Hot plates of food arrived then, brought by silent waiters dressed immaculately. Yuuri didn’t really see what was placed in front of him, only that it was there at all and that the smell was enticing. His eyes stared hard between the three before him. Viktor had said JJ belonged to a rival company, and he could see now how that could be true. The young man certainly had charms and as he poured some sake for Yuuri’s father, Yuuri could see how he was cunning and methodical. Viktor’s comment about JJ attempting to steal the deals from underneath Viktor’s nose, Yuuri could believe that. But he didn’t see how the woman, Isabella, and the small man, Guang Hong, came into it. Though Isabella seemed confident, she allowed JJ to take the lead, while Guang Hong didn’t seem at all interested in what was going on.

There certainly was something odd about it. He needed to remind himself to ask Viktor later.

They spoke about little things as they ate, JJ asking a lot of questions about their family life and how they found living in the town to be. Yuuri hadn’t ever come across a meeting where the client had been so interested before, but JJ didn’t seem like those other clients they met with. He was energetic, charismatic, confident and didn’t pass over Yuuri as if he wasn’t of any importance. There were both good and bad things that Yuuri took away from the meeting about JJ.

Once the plates had been cleared and the waiters taking their orders of dessert, talk turned to more serious matters.

“You have so many businesses already, Toshiya. What are you hoping to get from our interaction?” JJ asked, tapping the corner of his mouth with a napkin.

“Connections, if I am honest,” Yuuri’s father replied. “I have heard that you’re very good at taking things and selling them to a select crowd. I want to reach another audience for my business. I want it to be something many people come to, not just the traditional few.”

JJ smirked. “I am very good at that. I sell things to people that they didn’t even know they needed, or something that they didn’t know existed.”

Yuuri narrowed his eyes. JJ had moved from his business head to speaking in strange ways and he wondered why. He didn’t need to sell himself more to Yuuri’s father, he was already doing that enough by sitting in front of him.

“My ideal dream is to attach restaurants to our spas, but I do not feel like we have enough of an audience for it yet.”

“Sacrifices will need to be made,” JJ warned.

If Yuuri’s father thought the wording odd, he didn’t say anything. “I’m aware. I’ve made many sacrifices in my life to achieve what I have now.”

Guang Hong’s eyes flashed to Yuuri’s father, head snapping up just a little bit. There was something about the quick movement that had Yuuri pausing. He knew he had seen that before, but couldn’t place his thoughts were. He could only think of the smaller details, such as he had seen his small stature and silhouette, but not the details of his face or the way he moved. He rubbed his forehead, unable to remember. There might have been someone he once knew, someone from years ago, that reminded him of Guang Hong perhaps. Maybe. Though he couldn’t convince himself of that.

“Are you alright?” Isabella asked. “Are you getting ill?”

Yuuri shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. I’m just a little tired. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

The meeting quickly turned from business deals to talk of hobbies and their thoughts on the world as Yuuri’s father consumed drinks and JJ continued to push them his way. Yuuri found it slightly suspicious, especially the way JJ didn’t consume any drinks and Isabella only drunk a few sips of her wine, while Guang Hong didn’t touch his glass once. He’d seen other clients do the same before in hopes of loosening his father up for an easier deal – it never worked, his father was always a good business man even as the drink bloomed in his cheeks and his eyes couldn’t focus anymore.

But they never asked odd questions. Yuuri rejected all drinks, wanting to make sure that he was of clear mind just in case anything cropped up. But nothing did. JJ simply asked about his hobbies and what his father enjoyed. Isabella asked what his sister and mother was like, or which of his mother’s dishes were the best to have in a restaurant environment.

By the end of the meeting, Yuuri was convinced he had been paranoid. The three were nice enough, if a little strange. JJ was arrogant and he could see why Viktor didn’t get on with him, but that was it. That was all he could figure out.

By the time they finished all of their food and left the restaurant, his father was giddy with drink. He was singing at the top of his lungs, complimenting Yuuri at every moment he could.

“Do you need help taking him home?” JJ asked.

“No,” Yuuri replied. “It’s alright. He’s not that bad to deal with. He’s just loud.”

“Are you sure? It’s a way to your house from here.”

Yuuri thought it odd that JJ knew that, but there weren’t a lot of people now who didn’t know where they lived. “I’m alright. He’s stumbled his way home by himself often enough. He won’t need my help.”

JJ held out his hand. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Yuuri. I do hope this is the start to a long relationship.”

Yuuri reluctantly shook his hand, trying to evaluate JJ’s expression. “It was a pleasure meeting you too.”

When he shook Isabella’s hand, she giggled and made eye contact. When he shook Guang Hong’s, he was as hesitant as Yuuri was, eyes glancing anywhere but to meet Yuuri’s. They bid their farewells and moved off, leaving Yuuri alone with his stumbling father.

His first thought was if he was going to ask Viktor about them. He wanted to know more about them, especially if they wanted to get into a deal with his father. Yuuri didn’t want his family to be in the middle of a company feud.

“Right, come on, dad,” he said, pushing his father down the road. The older man was more than happy with it, attempting his own stumbling dance moves. “Let’s get home.”

***

Yuuri decided to let Viktor know, if not more out of curiosity than anything else. “There were three of them,” he told the other man on the other end of the phone.

_“What were their names?”_

Yuuri wasn’t sure why, but he knew that Viktor had been affected by the conversation topic. He’d greeted Yuuri as normal, but as soon as he mentioned the meeting with JJ, Viktor’s tone changed. He got colder, the warmth that often accompanied his voice whenever he spoke to Yuuri gone. His words were sharp and precise, as if he only cared for gathering information and nothing else. Yuuri tried not to let it get to him, understanding that this was a deeper wound that Viktor had yet to speak to him about, but it did. It made him more curious. He wanted to know Viktor’s past and where JJ came into it. He wanted to know so much more than he was being given.

“JJ, obviously,” he replied. “And Isabella and Guang Hong. Those were the only ones at the meeting.”

_“What were they like?”_

“JJ was, well, very pushy, charming. I thought at first he was trying to get my dad drunk so that he could sneak something into a deal, but he didn’t even speak about the deal when my dad got drunk.”

_“What did he ask him instead?”_

“Just what our hobbies were, or what we liked. Nothing really significant.” There was a silence on the other end that had Yuuri pausing. “Or was it? Was it significant?”

_“No. No, I’m sure it was nothing. What were the other two like?”_

“Isabella was just sticking to his side all the time-”

Viktor huffed on the other end. _“Of course.”_

Yuuri paused again, feeling as if he had been let out of a joke that he should have known. “Guang Hong just didn’t say anything. He wasn’t meeting my eye or anything. When we shook hands, he didn’t seem like he wanted to do it.”

_“He didn’t?”_ Viktor seemed surprised as he hummed on the other side. Yuuri could hear him tapping his fingers against the table, clicking his tongue as he thought. _“That’s not like him. He can be shy, but not like that.”_

“JJ wasn’t threatening or something, was he?”

_“No, no. JJ can be an asshole but nothing like that.”_

“Okay.” Yuuri wanted to say that if Viktor told him a little more about his life or about the things that surrounded this, then maybe he could help. But he didn’t have the courage. He didn’t want to press, not when Viktor had gone to these lengths to keep it quiet. The need to ask Phichit grew. “Is it dangerous? Is he trying to trick my dad?”

Viktor didn’t say anything.

Yuuri felt anger burn inside him. “I won’t let him do that. My parents have worked so hard to get to where they are now. JJ isn’t going to take it from them.”

_“He’s not like that,”_ Viktor quickly interrupted. _“He’s not going to hurt your parents’ business.”_

“Then what is he going to do?”

_“He’s… he plays a lot. He’s probably just playing.”_

Yuuri bit his lip. “You’re keeping something, Viktor. I know you are. This is my parents’ dream. If you think he’s going to hurt it, you better tell me now.”

_“He won’t. That won’t be what he’s after.”_

“Then what is he after?”

_“I don’t know.”_

Yuuri sighed and slipped further in his chair, rubbing his forehead. “Then how can you be sure he won’t ruin it?”

_“Because I’ve known him for a long time. We run in the same circles, remember? The worst he’ll probably do is back out of the deal. That’s all. I wouldn’t count on a deal in the first place happening, Yuuri.”_

“So, I should just tell my dad that the man he met with is just playing a game? He’s wasting our time because he’s bored?”

_“Yes.”_

“Great. And how many times should I expect to see him again?”

_“Quite often. He’ll probably run into you by accident.”_

“It won’t be an accident at all, I’m guessing.”

_“You’d be right.”_

Yuuri sighed again. “Great.” So JJ was like all the other rich people he had had to deal with in years before. All pretending, all bored, all wanting something from him. “I know how to deal with the type.”

_“Just be careful, Yuuri. Be wary of everything he does and don’t listen to whatever he says.”_

Don’t listen to whatever he says.

_Don’t listen to whatever he says._

The phrase played in his mind for hours after their call. There was something underlying in it, something he was missing, years of a relationship between JJ and Viktor that Yuuri was missing. He tried to tear it apart and piece it together multiple times over the hours in preparation for whatever JJ might try. But it only helped to confuse him more.

Just as Viktor had promised though, JJ was around more than Yuuri expected him to be. As the evening settled in and the late night covered the horizon, Yuuri walked the town streets to gather ingredients his mother had sent him out for while his father still slowly sobered from their meeting. 

He had them settled into a bag so heavy the kept changing arms to alleviate some of the pain. With every stride, the bag would swing against his leg. There were a few of the rich teenagers that snickered behind their hands as he walked by, the Katsuki rumours still not quite gone yet. He did his best to ignore them.

“Yuuri!”

Their meeting with JJ hadn’t been for very long, and yet he could pick out his voice from a loud and crowded room. His lungs jumped, a gasp leaving his lips, as he turned. JJ was alone this time, changed from his suit into something more casual – a simple polo with some cords. Sunglasses were resting on top of his head, despite the lack of sunlight.

It was too late to pretend that he hadn’t heard JJ. The younger man was already rushing over.

Everything Viktor had told him screamed in his head. He steeled himself, preparing for what he thought was going to be an easy conversation. A bored rich teenager – he had many years dealing with just those types. He would say he was quite the expert in it.

“Lovely evening, isn’t it?” he asked. 

Yuuri agreed, keeping the politeness in his tone. “It is. A nice breeze.” He paused, glancing around. “Where are your companions?”

“Isabella and Guang Hong? They’re a little busy at the moment.” JJ smirked and shrugged. “A lot of things have risen in our job.”

“Oh? I hope nothing too serious.”

“No, not at all. It’ll be something very lucrative once it comes into our possession.”

Yuuri narrowed his eyes. He felt like he was missing something. “Should you not be with them, then?”

“I am working.” Another smirk and a glint in his eyes as he stared at Yuuri. “And relaxing. Seeing some old faces and new.”

Yuuri swallowed down his hesitation. “You know Viktor.” It wasn’t a question. He knew the truth, and he suspected from the café that JJ knew it too. Whatever was the strife between them, Yuuri was being caught in the middle.

“I do.”

The honest answer was given so freely though that Yuuri was surprised.

JJ continued before Yuuri could say anything else. “Has he told you all about me?”

Yuuri felt like it was a loaded question. “He’s told me that you both work in the same business.”

JJ chuckled, holding his hand before his mouth. “That’s all?”

“Is there more?”

“Oh, there is a lot more than that.” JJ dropped his hand again, stuffing the both of them into his pockets. He tilted his head to the side. “You are very close to Viktor, aren’t you?”

“We’re friendly.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

Yuuri didn’t say anything and hoped that his expression was as open as he felt it was. He felt like his cheeks were blushing, remembering the times Viktor’s hands had travelled his body, how his own had done the same for the other man. He took a deep breath. “Then what do you mean?”

“I mean, you’ve fallen for him.”

Yuuri felt sparks shiver through his veins. He narrowed his eyes. “You’ve changed your tone since the meeting. Where has the charming business man gone?”

JJ moved closer. “Good question. You should ask Viktor that when you next see him.”

Yuuri took a step back, feeling uncomfortable. “What do you mean?”

“Viktor told you we’re business men?” JJ chuckled again, tapping the side of his mouth. “I guess you could say that. We do take things and sell them on. There’s a certain charisma you have to have for our job. A lot of connections too. Some parts can be illegal.”

_Don’t listen to whatever he says._

Ah, perhaps this was what Viktor had meant. JJ lied. The thought brought him some strength. “What are you going to try and tell me? That you’re both part of some illegal gang? Are you loan sharks or something?”

“No, no, I doubt Viktor could ever do something like that. He’s despicable, but not that low.”

“I’m starting to think you’re despicable.”

JJ took another step forward, not at all caring that Yuuri took one back. “I probably am.”

“Guang Hong was really quiet the whole meeting. What is he? Some child of someone who owes you money? Are you keeping him hostage?”

JJ surprised him by bowing low and clutching onto his stomach as he laughed at the top of his lungs. A few walking on the other side of the street glanced around, casting them odd looks before walking off. Once he had finished, JJ stood tall again. “Oh, he was there willingly, if a little uncomfortably. He doesn’t know how to face you, see.”

“Why… Why would he not know how to face me?”

JJ waved the comment away as if it wasn’t something interesting. “Don’t ignore what I said. You’ve fallen for him, haven’t you? You’ve fallen for Viktor.”

His heart skipped a beat. He tried to throw the idea away, but every time he did, it decided to root itself further in his mind. “It’s not your business if I have or if I haven’t.”

“See, that’s the thing. It sort of is.”

“Viktor is my business. _You_ are my business. Anything happening between you is, therefore, also my business. I need to know every aspect of your relationship, just in case you tell him something.”

Don’t listen, Yuuri told himself. If he tried to even pick apart what JJ was saying, he knew he’d just confuse himself. “You’re not just here for a deal with my dad.”

“And Viktor isn’t here for just a visit either.”

_Don’t listen to whatever he says._ “You don’t know why Viktor’s here.”

“I do. It’s the same reason I’m here. It’s the same reason I’m talking to you and your father. It’s the same reason Isabella wants to see your beautiful home, the same reason why Guang Hong is uncomfortable around you and your family.”

“What reason is that?”

“How did you and Viktor meet, Yuuri?” JJ asked, taking a step forward. A few people around them seemed to understand the tension in the air, glancing over their shoulders at the two men in the middle of the street. But not one stopped to see if they were alright. Not one seemed to see as Yuuri backed off again. “Let me guess. It was by accident. Was it at a meeting too? No, that’s not his style. A party. He met you at a party, didn’t he?”

Memories of that night flashed through his memory. He swallowed down a sour taste in his throat.

“Yuuri, it wasn’t an accident. He sought you out. He purposely found you. He wants something from you.”

_Don’t listen to whatever he says._

_He wants something from you._

He wants something from you. Just like his last mistake. The man that had come from nowhere, a tourist brought with the summer, seeing Yuuri as the fragile youth, still innocently sticking to an ideal view of love. He played and he said all the things Yuuri wanted to hear, all the romance perfect.

He wants something from you.

That man got what he wanted. For a split second, he wondered if he was playing into Viktor’s hands too. He wondered if Viktor had already gotten what he wanted. If it was sex, Viktor should have been gone by now.

_Don’t listen to whatever he says._

“What does he want?” Yuuri asked, moving backwards until his back hit the wall. He expected JJ to follow and trap him, but instead JJ stayed where he was on the sidewalk, crossing his arms and tilting his head to smirk widely. Yuuri wanted to punch it off.

“Why don’t you ask him yourself? I doubt he could lie to you. I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

_Don’t listen to whatever he says._

But Yuuri couldn’t help it. The suspicious seeds that had been in his chest from when he had met Viktor had dried out some, but they began to bloom a little again. He swallowed again, aware of how the phone in his pocket seemed heavier somehow. He could almost hear Viktor’s voice on the other end.

“He said you were trying to get to deals before he could get them,” Yuuri said. “You’re trying to trick me.”

“What use would I have for that? I mean, it’s true. I try to get to whatever he’s after before he gets it, but I don’t need to trick you about it.” He leaned forward, and there was something so intimidating about it, something so predatory, that it made Yuuri’s spine shiver. “I _want_ you to know I’m after it.”

“A-After what?”

“What happened the other night – it must have been terrifying. To be faced off with a wall of thieves. You didn’t know if they were going to hurt you or your family. You didn’t know why people who usually hid in the shadows were showing themselves to you. What did it mean? Did you worry for your treasure?”

Yuuri’s breath stopped entirely. His skin shivered, fighting off the warmer breeze in the air. He glanced down the whole of JJ’s body. The silhouette wasn’t familiar. He hadn’t been a part of the line. But that didn’t settle him. JJ knew. JJ was a part of it somehow.

“How…” he began, but couldn’t find the words. He took a deep, shuddering breath and asked, “How do you know about that.”

“Every question you can think to ask me, ask Viktor. He knows so much more than you know and more than he’s letting on. Funny how he appeared after the rumours about you and the treasure circulated, huh?”

Yuuri shook his head.

_Don’t listen to whatever he says._

He answered, “It was just a coincidence.”

“No, Yuuri. Ask Viktor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOPS MY HAND SLIPPED ON THE KEYBOARD AND WROTE MORE ANGST  
> Totally not intended.   
> ...
> 
> Either way, things are about to get a little rough from now on, so buckle in, ladies and gentlemen! We're hitting turbulence. This is your captain speaking. I'm going to do a loop and fly right in. 
> 
> If you'd like to keep up to date with the story, you can find me on tumblr 
> 
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	11. Viktor Swore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by the unreal whynikkywhy

Viktor knew he was losing time. JJ and his entourage had made their move, something he had wanted to try and hold off. But nothing he did, no amount of warding off enemies did anything. JJ had made connections. He’d faced Yuuri and his father. Who knew what he was going to say.

What he was going to tell Yuuri.

Viktor wasn’t sure what he could do. He wasn’t sure why he should have cared. Usually, the owners of the treasure being told of who he was, it was just a hindrance. It was just a set back that he could easily overcome. But not this time.

This time it scared him. He knew why. He didn’t want Yuuri thinking he was a monster, though he knew that that was going to be what Yuuri saw him as. A man that seduced him, gave him pretty words and pretty actions before taking his pretty things. That would be all Yuuri saw him as.

Viktor probably wouldn’t be able to explain himself. JJ would give him sour words to destroy everything Viktor had worked towards and he’d never listen to anything Viktor ever said again. That was what he knew was going to hurt the most – that he wouldn’t be able to get himself out of a mess he created.

But he didn’t know what to do.

Thieving was the only thing he ever knew. It was the only thing that was ever solid, ever structured, setting the foundation for his life.

He decided to ask Yakov for his advice, and naturally that brought the rest of the family with him. Georgi sat in the corner of the room, cradling a piece of painting that he had brought for inspection, while Mila stood against the wall, blueprints of the next bank held in her own hand. Yurio was acting as if he wasn’t listening, but every so often he glanced from the screen of his phone towards the group.

“I don’t know what to do,” Viktor admitted, trying to keep the break from his voice. “JJ is going to ruin it for me.”

“This has happened before,” Yakov said, shrugging. “JJ has told the owners before and it never stopped you.”

“But this is different.”

“How is this any different? JJ doesn’t know what it is either.”

Viktor swallowed. He didn’t want to admit to his father figure that falling in love with the owner had complicated things to an extent that he was lost. He could tell his hesitation was causing a shift in the room. “It’s gotten… complicated.”

Georgi glanced from his picture up to Viktor, eyes glistening. If anyone would be able to understand Viktor’s heartache, it would be Georgi. Mila seemed to flinch at his words too. Perhaps they had already begun to suspect something. Perhaps they knew where this was going.

“Complicated? How has it gotten complicated?” Yakov asked, still not understanding. He was very quick to understanding some things, especially when it came to his job. But with feelings, he was always cut short.

“I’ve been taking to Yuuri.”

“The Katsuki boy. Has he said anything?”

Viktor paused. “I haven’t asked.”

There was a fire that burned inside Yakov’s eyes, though it was hindered by his confusion. “Why? He should know where it is.”

“He does. I haven’t asked.”

“Why?” Yakov asked again, a little harder this time.

“I… I didn’t want to. I didn’t want my time with him to come to an end.”

Yakov hesitated, narrowing his eyes as his mouth opened to speak. No words came out. The silence in the room was deafening, almost ringing at the back of Viktor’s skull while he waited for Yakov to say something. When he did, he spoke low and slow, as if trying to process the words himself. “You… haven’t asked about their secret because… you didn’t want to stop talking to him. Yuuri Katsuki, the man hiding a priceless treasure from you. Why? This hasn’t ever been a problem before.”

“Because I’ve never been in love before.”

The confession cooled the room and it seemed to almost break Yakov. He froze, blinking as the words replayed themselves in his head over and over again. For a moment, his focus left his eyes before it found itself back on Viktor. “Repeat that.”

“I love Yuuri.”

“You love the owner.”

“I love Yuuri.”

“The one keeping the treasure?”

“I love Yuuri Katsuki.”

Slowly, it seemed to dawn on Yakov. He leaned backwards against his desk, running a hand down his face.

Viktor had seen the look a lot before. He hadn’t been kind to Yakov over the years, bringing him pain and suffering since the day Yakov had picked him up. Even through training, though Viktor was getting the best results, being at the top of his class, able to get through any challenge the professors threw at him with little effort, he still brought nothing but trouble. Everything was too easy, so he often went looking for something more. That something more was often chaos.

He hadn’t been easy on Yakov as the older man had aged. With every breath he drew, he caused Yakov to yell and wonder where he had run off to this time. Every mission had brought some sort of drama.

But nothing like this. He could almost see Yakov’s wrinkles deepening with every second he spent thinking about what Viktor had said. Age crept on him, and Viktor knew that much of that had been his fault.

“Vitya,” he began, his voice weary. “Why is nothing ever simple with you anymore?”

“I don’t know.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.” He was only answering, but he felt his own voice break. Georgi stood and pressed a hand to his shoulder, massaging in a way he thought might have meant to be comforting. It wasn’t helping much, but he flashed a quick smile to the other man. “It might be too late anyway. If JJ says anything, then it ruins everything.”

“He’s definitely going to say something.”

“JJ wouldn’t pass on the opportunity,” Yurio supplied from the corner of the room.

“You need to locate the treasure quickly,” Yakov advised. “Find it before anything else happens and get out quickly.”

“But that ruins my relationship with Yuuri.”

Yakov narrowed his eyes. “Then blame it on JJ. Then we get the prize and you can continue… whatever you have with him.”

“But…” He wasn’t sure he wanted to get the treasure anymore. Whatever it was, it was important to Yuuri. He wasn’t sure he wanted to take it from him. But he couldn’t say that, not with how Yakov was staring at him as if he was ready to tear his heart from his chest.

“But what?”

Viktor replied, “Nothing.”

Yakov’s stern expression seemed to crumble for just a second. He opened his mouth to say something, but it disappeared nearly as soon as it had come. “Good. Now all of you get out, I need to speak with Georgi.”

Viktor did as he was told, stumbling from the room feeling as if he had both dropped a thousand pounds of baggage and accepted more on. He was so tired. He ran a hand down his face.

Mila was standing beside him, glancing to him as if he was the most fragile pot about to fall over. “You alright?”

“I’m fine,” Viktor replied, though he knew it was hardly convincing. He had hoped speaking with Yakov would bring some sort of answer – the man had been in the game long enough. He was wise. He was well ventured. He had experienced love. But instead, there was nothing that could help him. While JJ got closer to Yuuri, ready to lie and perhaps even do more damage – telling the truth – Viktor felt like he was trapped. He was stuck to do nothing but watch.

“Maybe he won’t say anything,” Yurio tried to assure in his weird sort of way. He was trying to distract himself with his phone, but he watched Viktor from the corner of his eye.

“JJ will love to hound this over me. Of course, he will tell,” Viktor said. He collapsed onto the sofa. “This is the first time that he’s ever had something over me.” Like love was a weakness. Viktor had never thought that. He was of the mind that love made everything so much stronger, happier, better. But this time, it did seem like this love was a weakness of his, a break in his chain-mail.

“How do you think Yuuri will react?”

Viktor’s mind flashed back to their first few interactions and how Yuuri had been angry and suspicious. He’d be enraged, almost spitting with fury. Viktor could already feel himself hurting from all the pain, both physical and mental. Not to mention his sister, who had already threatened him once with the prospect of rearranging his organs so that they sat outside of his body. There would be hurt in his eyes. He’d come to the conclusion that his suspicion would be the right thing. He’d feel betrayed. He’d hate Viktor. He didn’t need to know a lot about Yuuri to know that.

“He’s going to hate me,” Viktor replied. Just saying that had him clutching at his chest.

Mila stepped forward and opened her arms, to which Viktor accepted the invitation. He hugged her close and buried his head in her shoulder, the ends of her hair tickling his face. She might have been much younger than him, but she acted like the mother he knew he was missing from his life.

“You’re going to have to decide what you want to do,” Mila said gently. She hesitated, as if she didn’t want to say it.

“I know,” Viktor replied, just as reluctant.

***

He couldn’t face Yuuri, so he didn’t venture into town or contact the other man, despite knowing that he was just putting things off. He was giving JJ more time to tell Yuuri. He was letting Yuuri simmer on the information without an explanation.

But he couldn’t face him.

He was sitting at Chris’ table, the other man filtering through the kitchen and preparing a cup of tea for Viktor.

He set it before Viktor and sat in the chair opposite.

“How is it going, Viktor?” he asked, though his tone suggested he knew the answer. Chris could read his expression very well – they’d been friends for long enough.

“About as good as I look,” he replied. He knew what he probably looked like, face pale and bags underneath his eyes. “I just don’t know what to do.”

“You know what I’d do,” Chris supplied.

Chris was always about love. No job was more important than love. But it was complicated for Viktor because his family was his job, his job was his family. How could he decide what was more important – love or family? It wasn’t simple. It hadn’t been simple for a very long time.

“I know,” Viktor replied. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed out his frustration. Every moment he was here, Yuuri was filtering through destructive thoughts. He really should go and stop that – if he had any chance to fix this, then he needed to go now and explain everything and beg for forgiveness. But he worried that doing that would lose him his family.

There was no doubt in Viktor’s mind that JJ had already told him. Of course, he wouldn’t have ever given up that chance.

“Everything has changed,” he whispered, a humourless laugh leaving his lips. “Just when you think things are going to be simple, something comes along and slams into your gut. It feels like that anyway. I thought love was meant to be a soft feeling. It feels like an invisible force keeps punching me.”

Chris patted Viktor’s hand, giving him a careful smile. “I know, Viktor, I know. It’s never going to be that soft, light feeling, not until you get through all the punches first.”

“How long does it last?”

Chris shrugged. “It depends on how quickly you get over this thing with Yuuri. And then it might take some time after that too. It’ll stop hurting one day.”

“But it won’t be soon?”

“But it won’t be soon.”

Viktor almost slammed his head against the table. He couldn’t stop himself from imaging Yuuri’s angry face, almost red with rage, shaking hands ready to punch Viktor. He didn’t want to see Yuuri like that.

“So are you just going to avoid him?” Chris asked.

Viktor didn’t know. He didn’t want to leave Yuuri without some sort of explanation. He didn’t want to meet Yuuri as he was. He didn’t know what to risk.

***

He’d never felt so anxious before. He was always so sure of himself, always confident, always knowing that he’d be enough to get out of a situation. He was good enough to do it.

Now he knew, for the first time, that he wasn’t in control. It scared him more than he ever thought it could. With every moment, he realised he was less in control than he was before.

Yuuri had contacted him. Late at night, during an hour that Viktor knew the other man had found it hard to sleep, his phone has pinged with Yuuri’s text. He had almost forgotten they had exchanged numbers and it had made his heart jump when he saw Yuuri’s number.

_Can we meet?_

That was it. No other words, nothing else to calm Viktor or tell him how Yuuri felt. Nothing to say if Yuuri wanted to talk about what JJ had said, or if JJ had been quiet at all. No context. Nothing. Viktor could feel the control slipping.

He texted back immediately. Yuuri didn’t ask what he was doing awake at that time. Viktor didn’t ask Yuuri either. It was like they were avoiding the real questions.

Yuuri arranged for them to meet in town for a coffee. Viktor spent the whole night thinking about what that meant. Yuuri wanted to talk. Yuuri wanted to talk about what JJ had probably told him. Viktor was almost shaking with anticipation.

He had arrived early as he waited before the clock tower. He had dressed his best, hoping that perhaps his good-looks would distract Yuuri enough to not think about things. He knew it wouldn’t work, but he could only hope.

He could feel someone watching him. He glanced around, catching someone sneaking behind a wall. They were clumsy, moving as if they were trying to hide in plain sight rather than disappear. They were not a thief. They were a local.

He’d had it before. He was the new, mysterious person from another town. Everywhere he went, someone was staring.

Yuuri turned up five minutes late, something that was unlike him. He had bags underneath his eyes, skin a little paler than Viktor remembered, and he seemed a little unfocused. Viktor felt his heart sink. And yet he felt his fear dissipate slightly as Yuuri flashed him a bright smile.

Yuuri leaned in for the hug first, pressing a kiss to Viktor’s lips. Viktor couldn’t help it, but he melted right into it, his heart hammering in his chest. He cupped Yuuri’s face.

Maybe he’d been wrong, he thought. Maybe JJ hadn’t said anything yet. Maybe Yuuri was worrying about something completely different. Maybe everything was going to be alright.

His instincts told him otherwise.

He took Yuuri’s hand and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. Almost losing Yuuri had given him a new need to show his love and affection to the other man. If he could spend every moment kissing Yuuri all over his body, then he would willingly.

He guided Yuuri around town, dipping into shops and pointing out whacky clothing. Yuuri chuckled beside him, listening to his every word.

It felt comfortable. And yet there was something odd about it. When Yuuri thought Viktor wasn’t looking, he was looking at Viktor’s face, smile slipping. Viktor never let Yuuri know that he saw it – he thought it might open a conversation that he didn’t want to start. Yuuri must have felt the same. There was something he wanted to ask, something that was tipped at the end of his tongue but he wasn’t letting go of. He didn’t want to break the dam either.

“You look really good today, by the way,” Yuuri whispered as they walked down an alley way.

Viktor felt his cheeks burn and a smirk pull at his lips. “Thank you. I wore it just for you.”

Yuuri almost choked on his own breath. “Really?”

“I always want to look good for you. Only for you.” He liked looking good. But it was always for himself. He liked clothing, he liked how they sat on him and how they felt against his skin. Now he wanted to see Yuuri’s face when he was dressed in something good. He wanted Yuuri to only look at him.

Yuuri’s cheeks burned bright. “You always look good. Clothes look really good on you.” He paused, something mischievous crossing his gaze. “You look really good without clothes too.”

Viktor glanced around. When he realised there wasn’t anyone close, he pressed Yuuri against the wall and kissed him fiercely. He loved the way Yuuri gasped underneath him, clutching at his back as if he couldn’t stand without the support. In fact, he loved everything Yuuri did. He just loved Yuuri.

“I think you look beautiful without clothes too,” he replied, pulling back. Someone passed the mouth of the alley, pausing as their silhouettes were seen. Viktor pulled Yuuri to the other end and out into the parallel street.

As lunch slowly crept upon them, they found themselves in a small café.

That was where the tension began to settle in. Yuuri was avoiding Viktor’s gaze, mouth opening and closing every now and then as if he wanted to say something. His fingers were fiddling with the end of his top.

“Have you decided what you’re eating yet?” Viktor asked. He tried to make it sound natural, but he knew he was being manipulative – if he asked something different, then perhaps whatever was on Yuuri’s mind would fade away. They’d be able to get back to normal.

Yuuri blinked and glanced down at the menu before him. “Uh, no, not yet. Have you?”

No. He hadn’t even glanced at it yet. He picked out the first thing. “Probably just a salad.”

“Oh. Nice.”

There was a silence that followed that Viktor could only describe as destructive. He could see the way Yuuri’s gaze was skittering across the table surface, thoughts whirling around his mind. Viktor’s own thoughts were burning at the back of his head, time ticking slowly in his ears. He knew he needed to say something to distract the other man, but he just didn’t know what. He swallowed, ready to say something, but Yuuri beat him to it.

“JJ seems… confrontational.”

It wasn’t the first thing Viktor ever expected to come out of Yuuri’s mouth. He had expected more shouting, blame, accusations. He half expected the salt and pepper to be thrown at him. Instead, Yuuri seemed curious more than anything.

“Uh, yes,” Viktor replied, feeling like he was about to set off some sort of bomb. “That’s one way to describe him.”

“He’s very confident too. He knows a lot.”

Here it comes, he thought. Yuuri was giving Viktor time to think about an excuse, or perhaps he wanted to make sure that Viktor felt the fear and anticipation until his heart hammered itself to a stop.

“Does he?” Viktor asked.

Yuuri nodded. “He’s planning more meetings with my dad. I think he might help sponsor so that dad can further his business.”

With dirty money, Viktor wanted to say. But he knew he couldn’t. The clothes on his back were bought with the same dirty money, made by stealing and selling on priceless items until his bank was filled with more 0s than he knew what to do with. He’d never felt guilty about that before. Now it felt weirdly stiff on his shoulders.

“That sounds like a good proposition,” Viktor replied.

Yuuri fixed him with a careful stare. “What do you think, Viktor? What do you really think about it?”

“Why?”

“You said JJ takes all of your business. Is that… is that why you first approached me?”

Viktor couldn’t breathe. He thought of a way around this. He knew he had thought of admitting to the other man what he was and begging for forgiveness, but now that it was here, it was scary. He was so afraid. “I approached you because I wanted to get to know you.”

“Why?”

“Because I thought you were beautiful.” It wasn’t a lie. Viktor never planned on approaching Yuuri to help him find what he was here for. He’d seen Yuuri and thought he was one of the most beautiful things he had seen in his life – and as a man that surrounded himself with beautiful things, it meant a lot. But he doubted Yuuri would see it like that.

“So, you didn’t have any business with me? Nothing you think JJ might be taking?”

There was definitely some underlying question. He could almost feel the trap underneath. “No.”

Yuuri bit his lip and glanced down at where Viktor’s hands were settled. “What are you doing in this town, Viktor? Does it have anything to do with the rumours that were going around about me?”

What to do? Viktor had no idea. He could come clean and potentially lose the man he loved, or he could lie and live the rest of his life submerged in guilt and lies. Before he’d even come to a conclusion in his head, his mouth was forming the words. “Yes.”

The grief that flashed passed Yuuri’s expression would forever haunt Viktor’s every waking moment. It pulled at his heart so tightly, he doubted he could ever feel it beat again.

Yuuri took a deep breath and asked, “And now? What are you here for now?”

“I’m here for you,” Viktor replied. “I’m here only for you.”

Yuuri took the longest moment staring at Viktor. Minutes ticked by, though he was sure they must have been as short as only a few seconds. It felt like an eternity. He was watching the planets being born again, the sun burn itself out, and evolution passed in the time it took for Yuuri to respond.

“There is so much I want to ask,” he whispered. “JJ said a lot of things. I want to know if they’re true, but at the same time, I don’t.”

“I understand-”

“No, you don’t,” Yuuri interrupted with a smile that froze Viktor’s blood. “But I’m not going to ask. I don’t want to know the answers, because they’ll destroy every good thing I’ve thought about you up until now. So I won’t ask.”

Viktor almost sighed out a breath of relief, though he knew that would have been too obvious. He did his best to keep that in.

“But know this, Viktor. If I have to have the same conversation with JJ, or if I find it from someone else, or if something happens to my house or… or something I’m keeping a secret, everything comes to nothing.”

Yuuri’s voice shook as he said it. He was speaking with as much emotion as Viktor felt, the burning lacing through his every thought. He knew what Yuuri was hinting at – there were rumours that he and his sister had been put through self-defence lessons. No doubt Yuuri could do some damage. But also, everything they had been working to, all the love shared between them, would be destroyed. What Viktor cared for, gone.

But it wasn’t the only thing he cared for. His thief family, waiting for him to bring this home. They wouldn’t understand. They could sympathise and offer advice, but the allure of a shiny and secretive treasure beat anything Viktor was feeling. They were shallow and greedy. They were everything Viktor might have been before he met Yuuri.

He needed to find the treasure. He needed to leave it alone.

He needed to steal it. He needed to keep it a secret.

He needed his family. He needed Yuuri.

Two very conflicting sides of the same coin. Two choices that would ultimately destroy the other.

Viktor didn’t know what to do.

“I understand.”

Yuuri’s gaze bored into him. “Yes, you do.”

***

But things didn’t work out the way he wanted. He should have expected it – anything that could go wrong seemed to be doing exactly that. No steps forward, just steps backwards.

The biggest fall was yet to come.

It started with JJ ambushing him just outside Yuuri’s house as Viktor dropped the man off home. Yuuri hadn’t been closed off since their conversation, but he had been wary. Questions that Viktor used to fill the silence, Yuuri took a moment to think about – he was making sure he wasn’t telling Viktor anything too important.

Viktor didn’t like it. He wanted Yuuri to be the carefree and trusting man he had been just days before, the man that wasn’t afraid to say anything. He knew it was his fault – he should have done something about JJ before he had had the chance to approach Yuuri. He should have done something about JJ a long time ago before that.

Yuuri had been the one to promise that they’d meet again, and he’d even leaned forwards and pressed a kiss to Viktor’s lips. It was as warm and as soft as it had been before, but the hesitation came in when he was turning away.

Yuuri was conflicted. Viktor could see that. It made Viktor scared for what answer the other man might find in his quietest moments.

As he was thinking about it, JJ slipped from the shadows of a shop porch and paced himself beside Viktor. He had a smug look on his face, a smirk that Viktor wanted to stab off. He increased his pace, but JJ kept up easily enough.

“Yuuri looked good, if a little quiet,” JJ said, a chuckle hiding at the edges of his words.

“He’s got a lot on his mind,” Viktor grunted back.

“I wonder what?”

Viktor flashed a glare to the other man, but the streets were still bustling with the market. There wasn’t anything he could do right now, not unless he wanted to make sure Yuuri would never speak to him again. “You know perfectly what he’s thinking about. You do realise than blabbing about me has revealed you too, right? Or did your small mind not think of that?”

He expected JJ to falter or stutter some sort of excuse. To his surprise, JJ seemed to grow more confident. “I know.”

Viktor narrowed his eyes. He almost stopped in his tracks, but a man rushing behind him pushed him walking again. He waited for the man to rush passed him before he turned back to JJ. He was watching Viktor, as if daring him to say something about it.

“You what?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper. “I thought you were stupid when you encouraged the others to show themselves to the Katsuki house a few days ago, but this? You’re not just setting me up, you’re placing yourself and everyone else we know in the firing line.”

“I know what I’m doing.”

Viktor rolled his eyes. “You don’t know anything, JJ. Word spreads fast. If you reveal yourself to be a thief, every job after this is going to be ten times harder than before. Your face will be plastered on every wanted poster in the country and over every page on the internet.”

JJ continued to smirk. “You know better than I that the Katsuki family are proud. They don’t have a family they’re close to, and any they do speak to were a part of the rumours surrounding them anyway. They won’t go to them for help. They don’t have any allies. They’re trapped.”

Viktor thought back to the parties he had attended and how the richer families had all been in their circles, barely straying out unless it was to humiliate another individual or family. Yuuri’s family were always in the corner, drifting through crowds like ghosts, never really speaking to anyone. He bit the inside of his cheek. “You could have done the job without them knowing about you. Or me.”

“But I w _ant_ them to know. I want them to know I was the one to take what they’ve kept a secret for so long. I want them to know _you_ had a part in it, even if you don’t have a part in the end result. I saw you getting comfortable, Viktor. You’ve been too comfortable for a long time.” JJ winked at him before he slowed his pace. As Viktor turned to watch the man, he waved his hand high and bid Viktor farewell. “Consider this, Viktor. Why is it so important to Yuuri? This treasure of theirs – why is he the one that’s most concerned for it?”

He worried others would turn at the words as JJ was just shouting it out in public. But the streets were filled with distracted people trying to get from one place to another, concentrating only on where their feet fell or what stalls were selling. Not one looked at them.

He turned back to JJ. “Do you know what it is?”

JJ shrugged and stopped in the middle of the crowd. “I have a suspicion. I just need to find where it is in the house. You’re so blinded by Yuuri, you haven’t been thinking about it. I should thank you really – if you weren’t so distracted, you would have found it by now. You aren’t asking the right questions.”

“What questions?” What had he missed? How could someone like JJ already have an idea of what it might be when he wasn’t any closer?

“Yuuri and Mari have always been taught self-defence, their parents have a pretty good understanding of what people are like out there in the big, bad world. But they started getting more classes per week a few years ago. Why? And when was that? What could have possibly triggered it?”

With that, JJ waved another goodbye and disappeared among the endless bodies.

Viktor was left standing, unable to reign in his shock. He swallowed hard. He thought about what Yuuri had told him, what might have happened a few years ago. Nothing came to mind and a headache began to burn along his forehead.

The noise around him was too loud. Children were screaming. Stall owners were shouting their prices. Adults were bellowing their words just to be heard. Dogs were barking.

Viktor paused. An idea began to form. At first, excitement began to beat in his heart. That was soon replaced by sudden understanding and terror. Viktor swore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly love the theories flying through about this... As it's getting closer to the real angst, your reactions are brilliant XD Here's some more little clues! Does JJ know? What's Viktor going to do? How does Yuuri really feel? 
> 
> Stay tuned for next week's chapter! 
> 
> You can find me on tumblr   
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	12. Good Luck To Anyone Who Tries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by the electric whynikkiwhy

Yuuri wasn’t sure what to believe.

What JJ had said continued to ring in his head until he could barely hear anything else. He had wanted to meet with Viktor and ask him everything about it, but when he saw the man’s face, saw Viktor right there in front of him, everything came crashing down.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer. If Viktor really was what JJ said he was, then everything he had believed up until now was ruined. The one man he believed was better than any other he had met, the one that was the reward for getting over the last destructive one, the man he thought could heal him, would end up as the ending catalyst to destroy his faith in anyone. But he also didn’t want to ask just in case it was wrong. What if JJ was bluffing? What if his vendetta against Viktor ran further than Viktor was telling Yuuri? What if Viktor wasn’t that kind at all, and he destroyed Viktor’s trust? What if his paranoia ruined his chance of happiness?

So he skated around the topic when he spoke to Viktor. He got as close as he could get to admitting it, watching Viktor’s facial expressions for any sort of hint. It had shocked him – Viktor was a mix of open and closed. Some questions, Viktor seemed to look guilty and it flared Yuuri’s paranoia. On other hints, Viktor’s expression died, leaving nothing but an unreadable stone face. Then there were the moments that Viktor seemed angry and confused, and Yuuri was sure he had heard it all wrong or JJ was lying.

There wasn’t a moment that managed to cement his ideas. Whatever happened, he was still unsure and meeting with Viktor hadn’t cleared it up. He thought he could do this.

He couldn’t.

He couldn’t even hate Viktor for a moment. He had kissed the man, even with these heavy feelings inside his chest. He thought he could step back and distance himself from Viktor while he figured things out.

He couldn’t even do that.

Now he was just as confused about the whole situation as he was before.

“Hey, kiddo, you alright?”

Yuuri jumped, almost tripping over the step. Mari was standing in the archway to their dining room, leaning against the wood. She had a smile on her face, but there was concern lingering in her gaze.

“Uh, yeah,” Yuuri replied, hand gripping tighter onto the stairway railing.

“Where did you go?” she asked.

“I was meeting with Viktor.”

“How is he?”

Yuuri nodded. “He’s good.”

There was a pause and Yuuri knew his sister could read him as easily as if he was an open book. He hated that part of himself. He couldn’t be like others, like Viktor to some extent – it was so easy to read what he was thinking.

Mari asked, “What’s bothering you?”

Yuuri wanted to tell her everything. He considered not, but he paused. This wasn’t just about him. What had happened affected his sister, his family as well. With a gulp, he turned his body towards her. “Dad and I met with that business partner.”

“Oh yes, dad said it went well.”

“Yeah, it did for dad.”

Mari paused. “And for you?”

“I… I’m suspicious of him.”

Yuuri loved his sister for many reasons, and one was the fact she didn’t tire of him. Any other person might have had enough of his paranoia and suspicion by now, but Mari took it like it was the first time.

“Why? What has he done?” Mari asked, moving to stand at the bottom of the staircase.

Yuuri glanced around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. He lowered his voice. “Viktor and JJ know each other.”

“JJ?”

“That’s the name of the client we met.”

“Oh. How do they know each other.”

“Viktor said they’re in the same business.”

Mari narrowed her eyes, confused as she attempted to understand what Yuuri was hinting at. “Oh, okay.”

“Viktor said JJ doesn’t get on with him, and he’s always trying to get Viktor’s jobs before he can get to them.”

Mari said carefully, “Well, that can cause a few problems. Was Viktor… was he trying to make a deal with dad first?”

Yuuri slowly shook his head. “No.”

“So, why are you suspicious of JJ?”

“Because he knew of what happened a few nights ago, with the wall of thieves outside our house. He said he was there.”

Suddenly, Mari’s whole demeanour changed. Her hand gripped tightly on the bannister, so tight Yuuri swore he could almost hear the wood splinter. Her gaze bore into him. “What?”

“I think he had something to do with it.”

“Then why is he making a deal with dad?”

“He’s come after the rumour about us.”

Mari’s face began to burn a subtle red, the anger sparking in her eyes so brightly Yuuri could hear thunder. “He’s come to steal it? He told you that?”

“He called it a wall of thieves. He said Viktor was here for the same reason he was.” It broke his heart to think about it, but he hoped he was wrong. He had spent hours thinking about it, watching Viktor’s face and hoping with everything he was that he was hearing it wrong. JJ was lying. “But Viktor hasn’t once asked me about the rumours of what we’re keeping. He’s been kind. He’s been a gentleman. He’s never seemed interested.”

Mari walked up the steps to meet him, fixing him with a steady gaze. “Are you sure about that? Are you very sure Viktor never seemed interested?”

“Yes. I am.” That was what confused him so much. What thief took the owner of a treasure to bed before even asking about it? What thief seemed more interested in Yuuri than what he was keeping? “He’s never asked me.”

“Then why would JJ say that?”

“I don’t know.”

“And why would he reveal himself to you like that?”

“He said he wanted us to know.”

Mari bit her lip between her teeth, glancing around as if clues would pop up. “I can see why you’re suspicious. What are you going to do?”

“I haven’t really figured that out yet.”

Mari clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure it’ll be alright. Something will come along.”

Yuuri swallowed. “But what if it’s true?” he asked, his voice cracking slightly. “What if I have been blinded and Viktor is… is only with me because he’s after it? What do I do then, Mari? I love him.”

Mari’s shoulders sagged as if the sigh she let out was enough to deflate her. For the longest moment, she wasn’t sure what to say. Her mouth opened and closed, words trapped. “You said he hasn’t asked, right? I’m sure it’s fine, Yuuri.”

“I confronted him today.” There was a lump at the back of his throat and it was making it harder for him to be able to breathe. He was gasping, eyes burning.

“What did he say?”

“Well, not much. I didn’t really confront him directly. I, um, I alluded to things really. I didn’t know how to say it. I didn’t want to know the answer.”

Mari took his hand and led him to the library, sitting him down on one of the comfiest chairs. Usually, she fought him for it, but in this moment she thought he needed it more than anyone else. She popped her head around the doorway and asked a maid to bring in some tea before she clicked the door shut and sat before him.

“Yuuri,” she began, leaning forward until she was almost perched on the end of the chair cushion. “You said he hasn’t asked anything about it. I’ve seen the way he looks at you too. I’m sure you’re just suspicious-”

“He didn’t seem surprised when I mentioned it,” Yuuri interrupted and watched as her face fell. He continued, “I didn’t say it outright, but I said what JJ had done. Viktor… he didn’t seem surprised. He didn’t act the way I expected him to. He seemed scared.”

“Scared… how?”

Yuuri shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I want to say that he was scared of me finding it out and stopping him before he could do anything, but I’ve spent a while thinking about it and I don’t think that’s it now. But he was scared of something.”

Mari sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Her eyes flickered. Yuuri knew she was considering having a smoke right now – she always had that same look.

“Don’t think too much about what that could be,” she advised. “You’re on high-alert at the moment. You’re paranoid and suspicious, and not that I’m blaming you at all, you have a right to be. But you’re over sensitive, Yuuri. You’re so sure that something is going to happen, you won’t listen to anything else.”

Yuuri narrowed his eyes. “JJ told me himself. I know I didn’t mishear it.”

“Not that, but I mean Viktor. Are you really so sure that he has a part in this?”

“He himself said that JJ was in the same business. If JJ tells me he’s a thief, how else am I meant to interpret it?” Though he hoped it wasn’t true. He hoped with everything he had that Viktor actually cared for him for him, and not because there was something potentially priceless hidden away in his house. It made him feel odd to think, that the times he had had Viktor in his home, the man was sneaking around or thinking about treasures.

“Maybe JJ was lying, or maybe Viktor didn’t mean it like that.”

“What else could it mean?”

“Maybe he knew what JJ was. Maybe he’s just dealt with him before. Hell, Yuuri, maybe he was even a victim once. There are so many ways that can be interpreted.”

Yuuri leaned forward in the chair, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He almost felt like laughing at the insanity of it all, and he could feel it bubbling at the bottom of his lungs. He let it out. “I thought you’d be the last person that would try to convince me to stay with Viktor.”

“Me?” Mari asked, glancing away guiltily as she leaned back in her chair. “Why’s that?”

“You’ve been so protective of me since the last mess. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve found a way to sneak in a threat or two to Viktor.”

When Mari didn’t reply, Yuuri chuckled again – this time, the laugh sounded more genuine. He imagined Mari pushing Viktor up against the wall and spitting profanities in his face. There really must have been something good for Viktor to stay and not run off.

“What was he like?” Yuuri asked, a smile on his lips. “When you threatened him, what did he do?”

“He was a little frightened,” Mari answered, a smirk pulling at her own lips. “He did well in facing me though, must better than half the people I’ve threatened before.”

“How many have you threatened before?”

“Oh, Yuuri, half of them never even approached you. You wouldn’t believe how many I had to chase off at parties. You’re a lot more popular than you expect.”

Yuuri smiled. He loved his sister, for so many reasons and there would never be a time that it changed. But as the weight of the situation loomed over him, he couldn’t dwell on it for long. He asked, “What do you think I should do? About Viktor. Do I risk it?”

“I think you need to talk to him.”

“I tried it once, and I couldn’t ask him directly.”

“Does he make you happy?”

“He did, before this. Now I’m just unsure about everything.”

“Give him a chance,” Mari surprised him by saying. When he raised a questioning eyebrow, she elaborated, “I can’t pretend to be you, Yuuri, but I know how feel you in these situations. It could all be a product of your paranoia. Give it a chance.” She fixed him with a steady stare. “But don’t give him too much space. Make sure you keep an eye on him. He makes one move, you tell me. If he asks something about the secret, let me know. One step out of line and we descend on his ass and show what the Katsukis are made of.”

***

_Give him a chance._

Yuuri wasn’t sure what to do. His sister was usually the impulsive one, and at the first sign of Viktor being anything like what JJ had said, he had expected his sister to go hunting the man herself. But she had said to give him a chance.

Maybe there was something he was missing. There must have been something that he wasn’t quite seeing, something he was blinded to because of his anxiety.

He needed more evidence, he decided. He didn’t want to completely disregard what JJ had said, even if it was a lie, but he didn’t want to believe it either.

When he was alone in his room, he took his phone and called his best friend. Phichit took only two rings to pick up.

“ _Yuuri!_ ” he greeted. There was some chatter behind him. No doubt the boy was in some social event, gathering information while no one else knew. _“What’s up?”_

Yuuri paused. He knew it was low asking Phichit to do something for him – he’d never used Phichit’s connections before. It was like going behind someone’s back and stabbing their trust. But Yuuri knew he was pushed against the wall on this. He needed to know who was lying, JJ or Viktor. He knew which one he hoped was telling the truth. He hoped with all his heart that Viktor was just a victim. “Hey, Phichit. How are you doing?”

_“I’m having a load of fun! Can you believe that there are like three families that have already come out and said they have some sort of underground connection? I thought it was poorer families that started up drug rings and stuff. I guess it’s something to do with the power, huh?”_

“Are you collecting secrets now?”

_“They’re not really secrets. All of this is coming out now.”_

“Did you know before?”

_“I’d be bad at my job if I didn’t_ ,” Phichit laughed. _“Why are you asking, anyway?”_

Yuuri found it hard to speak. He loved his best friend, he really did, though he didn’t always agree with what he did. Collecting secrets from numerous sources and harbouring them – to be fair to him, he didn’t do anything horrible with them. It was mainly to satisfy his own curiosity. But Yuuri needed that now. He swallowed down his hesitation and said, “I need you to look into a few people for me.”

“ _Yuuri. Are you finally asking me to gather intelligence for you? Like… I’m not dreaming, am I?”_

“No, you’re not.” Yuuri let a tired smile lift his lips. “There are three people I want you to look into.”

He could almost hear Phichit cracking his knuckles on the other end. _“Leave it to me. What are their names?”_

“JJ Leroy, Ji Guang Hong and Viktor Nikiforov,” Yuuri replied, voice cracking ever so slightly as he said Viktor’s name. Now that it was out, it was harder for him to think about it. Phichit would no doubt find something. He hoped it wasn’t anything terrible.

Phichit was quiet for a moment. Yuuri thought that was the worst sign. Yuuri was sure Phichit knew who Viktor was to him by now. After a moment, he said, _“I’ll put this as a priority. I’ll do it as quickly as I can.”_

“Thank you, Phichit. You don’t have to rush though.”

_“I’ll do it anyway. It must be important for you.”_ He paused again, swallowing in a way Yuuri knew was a nervous tick. _“Yuuri, are you okay?”_

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just curious really.”

“ _Okay. I’ll be as thorough and as quick as I can be_.”

“Thank you, Phichit.”

He hung up and held his head in his hands, sighing out his frustration. His heart was hammering in his chest. He already didn’t want to know the answer.

***

Despite his reservations, he did meet with Viktor again. There was yet another rich party that his family had to attend, another social gathering where gossip would spread through the walls. Yuuri didn’t want to go, but as always, his family had to show their faces just so that the other families would leave them alone. Viktor was waiting for him outside. His parents and sister moved on, though Mari seemed a little more reluctant to move into the party.

Viktor was dressed beautifully. The suit was navy and tailored to fit every line of his body, accentuating muscles that reminded Yuuri of dark nights in his bed feeling those very lines, exploring them, tasting them. He shook his head.

Viktor fixed Yuuri with his blue eyes, his confidence just a little slower than before. He held out his hand. “Evening, Yuuri,” he greeted. “You look beautiful tonight too.”

Yuuri couldn’t help it. His heart beat ten times faster and he wanted nothing more than to collapse into the man and kiss the smile off of his face. Every worry always disappeared whenever he was in Viktor’s company, even his suspicions were chased to the very back of his mind. He took Viktor’s hand and greeted, “Hi, Viktor. How has your day been?”

“It’s been alright,” Viktor replied, not saying much more. He never really divulged a lot of information. That was one thing that had had Yuuri suspicious in the first place. “I know it’s a little early and we’re not even inside yet, but I’d like to ask you to dance with me.”

As if he could ever say no. “I’d be honoured to.”

The party was like every other party Yuuri had attended. Bright lights, glamour on every corner, tiny food that remained untouched.  The hierarchy of families had already been determined, clusters of popular individuals gathering in the corners of the room, giggling away and raising their flutes of drink. As always, they turned as Yuuri entered the building, their faces a mix of grimaces and predatory curiosity.

Before he had a chance to think about it, though, Viktor was taking his hand and moving towards where the dancers twirled on the floor, their dresses raising beautifully. Viktor guided him to the middle, pulling Yuuri’s hand to rest on his shoulder and grabbing the other, his own spare resting nicely against his hip. Yuuri’s heart hammered in his chest, his body longing for Viktor in a way that he hadn’t longed for someone for a long time. Their shared night together had opened a gate that he knew he could no longer close.

Viktor was looking at him as if he was the light of a thousand stars, the treasure that everyone sought, a priceless artefact. Yuuri liked being watched like that, but at the back of his mind JJ’s words continued to blare until he could no longer concentrate on anything else. He hoped that Phichit would come back to him soon. He needed the answer to this conflict inside of himself.

“You look stunning tonight,” Viktor said.

And that was part of what confused him. He could hear the sincerity in Viktor’s voice and it made him feel like everything people had gossiped about him was wrong. People called him boring. Others called him plain. When Viktor called him beautiful, he almost believed it.

But if he really was what JJ said he was, alluded to, then he wasn’t sure what he should think about that. Was he some sort of beautiful prize that Viktor only saw? Not him, not who he was, but what he stood in front of and protected?

“Thank you,” he said, unable to stop the blush despite how he felt. “You look very handsome tonight.”

Another part that had him confused was how Viktor seemed to light up at Yuuri’s praise. He gave a gleaming smile at Yuuri’s comment and spun him around with the energy of a man in love, skin shining with happiness. Yuuri saw how others praised Viktor and how he passed it off as more empty words. He was never short of praise. Someone was always willing to tell Viktor just how good he looked – and he always looked good. Even the morning after their shared night, when Yuuri was knackered and felt like he looked like a swamp monster, Viktor looked as if he’d come out of a magazine cover. But he only ever shone when Yuuri praised him, no one else. It wasn’t faked.

So what was faked? What was the lie and what was the truth? And how did they work together? If Viktor really did like him back, if he felt even an ounce of love for Yuuri, then what was he doing?

“Only for you,” Viktor replied, leaning forwards so that their noses almost touched.

Yuuri didn’t pull away. He pressed a quick peck to the side of Viktor’s mouth, loving the way the man’s eyes blinked in shock but his smile widened again. Every expression that crossed Viktor’s face had Yuuri’s heart hammering in his chest, but it was blackened by his paranoia.

“How do you always look so good?” Yuuri asked. The words spilled out before he could stop them, but he was too curious to feel ashamed of it. “Even at moments people look their worst, you look like a thousand stars are shining on you.”

“Not always,” Viktor replied, his words a little strained. There was something in between the lines that Yuuri was too scared to ask. “But I suppose it helps that I have a family that are very concerned with appearances.”

More information that Yuuri didn’t know. He was so taken with the small bait that he ignored the suspicion. “Your family value a lot on appearance, do they?”

“They have to. It’s part of their job really. Yakov says it’s important to always be dressed as if you’re making a first impression, even with people you’ve met a hundred times.”

“Yakov?” Yuuri asked, hungry for more. Perhaps there would be something that helped him with his inner conflict.

“My adopted father of sorts.”

“A-Adopted?”

“I don’t have blood family. I have an adopted family.”

“Oh… I’m… I’m really sorry.” Yuuri’s chest pulled tightly and he wasn’t sure what to say. He knew not everyone had families – there were a few in their town that had been brought up in adopted families. But he didn’t know anyone directly. The backs of his eyes stung.

Viktor pressed a tender kiss to his forehead. “There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. I love my family. They’re a mess, but I love them all the more for it.”

“A mess? How many are there?”

“Four, not including me. Yakov, my adopted father, and the others who I guess you could consider siblings. Two brothers and one sister.”

“What are they like?”

“Yakov is strict and at first, it’s like he’s going to be the strong silent type. A lot of people expect him to be. But it doesn’t take a lot to blow his fuse. I step on his toes a lot,” Viktor replied, a fond smile pulling at his lips. “Then there’s Georgi, who is like a brother. He loves the idea of romance and beautiful things, is kind-hearted, but can seem a little unhinged sometimes. He’s about the same age as me. Then there’s Mila, eighteen, who is… very scary. She takes after Yakov, but is the strong and silent type instead. Don’t ever cross her. And finally, there’s Yurio.”

“Yurio?” Yuuri asked, shocked by how similar their names were.

“Well, actually, he’s called Yuri,” Viktor chuckled. “We call him Yurio as sort of a nickname. I don’t remember why, but it’s stuck. He’s just like what you image a teenager to be. Always wearing hoodies, loves his phone, argues with everything, never smiling. He loves his cats though. Since he could pick his own clothes, everything in his wardrobe has some sort of big cat print on it.”

Yuuri couldn’t help but smile at Viktor’s words, the gentle expression on his face contagious. “It sounds like you’re close to them.”

“I spend a lot of my time with them – if I’m not with you, I’m back at home, getting annoyed at their antics.”

Yuuri wondered if they were part of this ‘business’ too, or if they were oblivious to whatever Viktor was doing. Perhaps it was the latter – they weren’t here after all. Yuuri wasn’t sure what that meant for him though. He doubted he would ever meet them.

“Well, that’s not entirely true, I’m also spending time with Makkachin, my dog.”

Yuuri’s doubts were cast away at the mention of a dog. “Aw, that’s sweet.”

“She’s constantly craving my attention.”

“And she’s back at your house?”

Viktor nodded solemnly. “Where I left her. My siblings and my best friend are looking after her, so she’s well cared for, but I miss her.”

Yuuri nodded. “I can understand that. I miss Vicchan.”

Viktor was silent for a moment, guiding Yuuri in their dance until they slowly swayed through the dance floor. He wasn’t aware of the people that were dancing around them, and neither was Yuuri. He almost slammed into a few every now and then, but he couldn’t think of them. He had so many things on his mind, he could barely figure out what to concentrate on.

“What was he like?” Viktor eventually asked, voice small and reluctant.

“He was a small ball of energy. Loved to be spoiled.” Yuuri grinned, though there was some pain behind the action. He couldn’t look Viktor in the eye, and decided to settle his gaze on Viktor’s lips instead. “He was a friend to me when I was at my loneliest.”

Viktor’s hand gripped tighter around his. Yuuri wasn’t sure if it was for comfort or a reaction to something else.

“He loved everything sparkly,” Yuuri continued, finding that it was hard to stop. “Good thing he was with a family that could cater to his tastes, huh? He loved expensive food too, and he was rough with toys so we often had to buy expensive ones just so they didn’t fall apart immediately.” Fall apart. It was funny how some words used to describe one thing could so easily describe another. His last relationship fell apart. He worried his relationship with Viktor would fall apart too. As a thought struck him, he glanced down to Viktor’s feet, noticing something. It might not have meant anything, or it might have been the proof to an answer he had been looking for. But he didn’t say anything for a while, instead glanced back up to peer into Viktor’s expression. If the older man thought his silence was anything strange, he didn’t say it. Feeling daring, Yuuri said something he never thought he’d say to a potential thief, “He liked sparkles a lot, but he liked this one stone in particular. It was rare, I know, and incredibly expensive. I don’t know what it was, but I knew it painted rainbows on the walls when the light hit it in a certain way.”

_Stop. Stop now before you say something you regret. You don’t know what he is. You don’t know how much he knows._

But Yuuri wanted to test something out. He so desperately wanted a relationship with Viktor in which he could say anything he wanted without fear, pour out his whole heart without any barriers or hesitancy. He wanted that, but as long as Yuuri suspects that Viktor was a thief, then they’d never reach it. He’d asked Phichit to find out for him, but there was something unsatisfying about it. He wanted the proof himself, whether he was right or wrong.

“It was the only thing I ever asked from my parents. We’re rich, but my sister and I were never brought up to be spoiled. If we wanted something, we weren’t just given it. We worked for it, even if it was something small. My parents worked hard to get what we have now,” Yuuri said, voice surer than it had been for a very long time. “They did it so that we could live comfortably as a family. But that doesn’t mean we were given everything without a thought. I worked hard for a year before my parents gave me what I wanted. Vicchan, my beloved dog, my best friend, the one thing that had given me everything I was too shy to get myself. I’m sure you can understand even a little of what a dog can give you. Confidence. Self-esteem. Security.”

Viktor nodded, and Yuuri didn’t miss the way he swallowed nervously. His expression was closed off, but Yuuri could see the way he was listening intently. He hoped that it wasn’t the proof he had been dreading. He pushed more.

“I wanted to treat him for being there when no other friends were. I wanted him to have a whole collar of those stones, just so he could feel as rich as he’d made my life to be.” He waited for a glint in Viktor’s eye, but nothing came. He was ashamed to say it brought a sigh of relief to his lips. “Of course, the stones are rare. My parents could only get one, and they felt that was spoiling me enough. It was put at the front of the collar, bright and beautiful, and then the rest was made of cheaper stones. It was over the top, something my family pride themselves on not being, but it was the only thing I ever wanted. Vicchan loved it, right up to the day he passed away.”

He glanced back down to the way Viktor’s feet moved silently against the floor. He hadn’t ever noticed it before, but now that he looked back, he found it odd. Everyone he knew made some noise while walking, or dancing, or running. Their feet were too heavy against the floor. Viktor made no noise at all. He did it almost unconsciously. As if he had been trained to do it. As if his job needed him to be silent.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Viktor whispered.

Yuuri glanced back up to his face, his eyes flitting over his expression to read exactly what he was thinking.

Viktor swallowed before asking, “And the collar. What happened to it?”

Yuuri wasn’t sure how to take that. At first, his heart dropped, thinking it was confirmation of what Viktor was. But there was no greedy glint in his eye. There was a small bit of guilt, but nothing that helped Yuuri understand why. He replied, “I still have it.”

“You do?”

Yuuri nodded, staring into Viktor’s eyes as if daring him to say something. “I do. It’s hidden away, where no one will find it. Good luck to anyone who tries.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HMMMM HAVE MORE CLUES BEEN REVEALED? OR HALF A TRUTH? I WONDER
> 
> Thank you all so much for the responces to the last chapter! And obviously to all the ones before that too! I love reading each and every single one, and I love all of you! 
> 
> Updates are on my tumblr   
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	13. A Cretin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First half of the chapter beta-read by whynikkywhy (so the part without any mistakes), and second part done by me (I apologise in advance).

You’re an idiot. Fool. Moron. Dunce.

_Cretin._

Every insult under the sun crashed through Viktor’s head as he leaned over the sink basin. He could still hear the party outside, the giggling patrons drunk off of socialising, the lights around him too bright. He could still smell the overuse of bleach in the air, aching at the back of his nostrils. The bathroom had been scrubbed within an inch of its life until it seemed more like a hospital bathroom than a normal home’s.

He couldn’t look at himself in the mirror. His face was too warm. The back of his eyes stung.

Of course, out of everything, out of _absolutely everything_ the treasure could be, it had to have some emotional meaning. He’d stolen things like that before, expensive rings that had been in the family for generations or an article of clothing that had been painstakingly cared for, for hundreds of years.

But this was different.

Yuuri wasn’t just anyone. And this wasn’t just some family heirloom. This was the person Viktor loved with the secret he loved enough to hide, to have self-defence lessons for. This wasn’t a treasure, this was the last thing he had left of a pet that meant everything to him.

Viktor had had one weakness since he was a young teenager and that was Makkachin. So he understood. He understood everything Yuuri was saying about how important his dog was to him, about everything she had given him. He understood all too well. He also knew his new weakness was Yuuri.

He’d be shattering everything if he went through with this.

“Viktor?” Yuuri’s careful voice asked on the other side of the door. He knocked on the door. “Are you alright?”

No. NO. _No._ Viktor had felt trapped before, but now he knew that was nothing. “I’m fine. Everything got a little dizzy all of a sudden.”

“Dizzy?”

“I-I drunk a little bit before you got here. I didn’t think it was much, but I think dancing made me feel it more than I thought I would,” he lied. He hoped he hadn’t rushed to the toilet too quickly for Yuuri to become suspicious. He had waited until the conversation changed before he excused himself, all the while feeling like he needed to throw up the monster inside him.

How could he even think of stealing a precious dog collar from a grieving owner?

“Oh, okay,” Yuuri said gently, his tone suggesting he believed him. “Do you feel sick? Have you thrown up?”

Viktor wondered if he’d feel better if he did. “No. It’s not that bad.”

“Do you need help?”

Good Yuuri. Good, lovely, selfless Yuuri that wanted to give an expensive present not to himself but a beloved dog. Fantastic Yuuri that only ever wanted the best for others, including someone like Viktor. Viktor gripped the side of the sink tighter, gritting his teeth until the grinding echoed in his skull. “Thanks, but I’m okay. I’ll be out in a moment.”

“Want me to get some food ready for you?”

Viktor swallowed. “Yes, please.” Perhaps that would help. Yuuri’s footsteps faded away from the door. Viktor felt like he could breathe.

He knew the best thing to do right now would be to feign defeat and leave. He’d tell Yakov and the others that there wasn’t anything there, that he had checked the whole house a thousand times and suspected that the rumours were just another ploy for the family to get attention. He knew they wouldn’t believe him, but without evidence there wouldn’t be anything they could do. But there was one problem with that.

JJ.

Viktor suspected that the younger man knew what it was, at least that was what he had alluded to. He didn’t know where it was though, but it wouldn’t be long before he found it. If he had come this far, JJ had been underestimated and Viktor didn’t want to do that again.

He couldn’t leave. That would leave the Katsuki family open for JJ. But he knew JJ’s type, and he knew the younger man wouldn’t give up until he found what he wanted.

Viktor stood straight and ran his hands down his face, catching his expression in the mirror. It was just as bad as he expected. His skin had been perfect when he first arrived, but how it was pale, almost a sickly grey, with bags hanging subtly underneath his eyes as if he hadn’t slept. He felt like he had aged ten years.

He ran some cold water and splashed it over his face before he left the bathroom. He found Yuuri loading food onto an expensive china plate from the beautiful buffet display. He almost jumped at Viktor’s return, the end of a prawn still hanging from his lips.

Viktor, despite how heavy he was feeling, couldn’t help but smile. “Sneaking in something for yourself?”

“I’m hungry,” Yuuri defended, sucking in the rest of the prawn. It was made difficult by the small smile on his lips, brought on by Viktor’s. He handed Viktor his plate, loaded with things that Viktor had never told Yuuri he liked, but somehow the younger man had known. “For a rich party, they don’t have much of a selection here.”

“That’s your choice of complaint? Not the fact that this family is rich, but the cheap taste around us screams tat? Or that there’s clearly a group in the corner that are planning an orgy? Or how I’ve spotted seven illegal doings already?”

Yuuri’s eyes sparkled. “Food is more important.”

Viktor was about to say something in return, but something caught his eye. Over Yuuri’s shoulder, hiding in the shadows of the curtain, stood JJ. He was dressed in a fine blue suit, bright against the darkness of the other men around him. He was grinning, watching Viktor with eyes that screamed smugness.

He wanted to ignore the other man and only focus on Yuuri, but JJ made that difficult. Every time he glanced away, JJ was closer without seeming to have taken a step. It unsettled Viktor to know he was getting closer to Yuuri.

He clapped a hand gently on Yuuri’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back. I just need to go talk to someone.”

“What about your food?” Yuuri asked, concerned.

“Keep it with you,” Viktor replied, handing his plate back to Yuuri. “Keep it safe for me, and I’ll be right back for it.”

Yuuri sighed, “Okay. I’ll probably still be here when you get back.”

“If not, I’ll come searching for you.” Viktor moved off, angling himself so his big frame would hide where JJ stood. He could almost feel Yuuri watching him go.

When he reached JJ, he spun the boy around and led him outside the front doors. He knew it must have looked intimidating to others, the way he had his arm around JJ’s shoulders and how he was dragging him outside, obviously to the displeasure of the man under his hold. JJ was shouting at him, trying to get out of his grip, but nothing was working. With every moment, Viktor’s mind flashed with reminders of JJ’s smug face, and it reignited Viktor’s determination.

“Why don’t we have a little talk, JJ?” he asked, his voice low, his anger seeping out.

“I don’t like your tone,” JJ replied.

“Believe me, I’m keeping most of my killing-need down.” He dragged JJ out of the door and around the corner, hiding behind the south wall of the house. It was quiet, the chatter of the rich filtering out through the open window. He threw JJ against the wall. “Tell me, what are you doing, going around telling Yuuri things you shouldn’t be?”

“We’ve had this conversation,” JJ grunted as he stood back up. “You’re really getting stressed, Viktor. How has Yuuri been? Has he asked you anything about yourself?”

“Why does that even matter?”

“He seemed pretty pally with you. Does he just not care? Or maybe he likes a bad boy.” JJ’s eyes widened, a smile pulling up. “Or maybe he likes being played around. Maybe he likes the thought of you ruining him, taking something so precious from him, tearing him down until he’s not able to trust anyone else.”

Viktor’s heart thumped in his chest. He pressed JJ against the wall, gritting his teeth. “JJ, say one more thing against Yuuri, and I swear you won’t be seeing your group again.”

“They’ll come after you. I have more people in mine than yours.” There was a glimmer of fear in JJ’s eyes, but the smugness was still there. He was too sure of himself, something Viktor wanted to wipe from his expression immediately.

“I don’t care,” Viktor grinded out. “You should know more than anyone that numbers don’t matter. Our group could disappear without you ever finding us again. But that isn’t what I’ve dragged you here for. Leave Yuuri alone, JJ.”

“I get it, you want to be the only one to break him, right?”

“I’m not breaking him.”

JJ rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, Viktor. Even if you decide to go back on your mission and keep the treasure where it is, the point is you came here for it in the first place. You think he won’t think you’re playing the long game? You could be here for years and just waiting for the right moment. He’ll doubt you for the rest of your lives, and there would be nothing you could do to assure him. So, how do you think that would work? How would it end?”

Viktor didn’t need his worries spoken out loud. He didn’t need someone like JJ – selfish, arrogant, terrible JJ – managing to speak every fear, despite his desperation to keep it a secret. Viktor really didn’t need it.

“Whatever happens isn’t your business.”

“But it is, because while you’re distracted I can get in and steal it. The great, brilliant Viktor Nikiforov, completely distracted by the man he should be stealing from. You have no idea how much I love that, Viktor.”

“Then leave Yuuri out of this.”

“I can’t. He’s still my target, and he’s standing in the way. Honestly, he infuriates me too. Too good to be true, don’t you think? No dark background. No underground dealings. No shady friends. A secret treasure he’s hidden for years. He’s a lovely man too. Most people who actually know him really like him. There’s just nothing bad about him, is there?”

Viktor narrowed his eyes, unsure of where this was going.

“But I suppose that’s where you come into this. You’re his dark side, the part that comes in and is kept as a secret. Maybe that’s what he’s really doing. He wants a secret. He wants something new and dangerous. He wants something to make his pulse race. And what’s better than a kept thief? You’re falling into becoming a pet, Viktor.”

Viktor’s thought was that he didn’t mind being that if it was Yuuri’s. At least then he wouldn’t have any pressure, no career, nothing that could stop him from being entirely Yuuri’s object for attention. “Yuuri isn’t like that.”

“You don’t know Yuuri as well as you think you do,” JJ responded. “You’ve only known each other for a short time, and there are subjects you avoid. How can you claim to know someone when you can’t talk about everything?”

“JJ, shut up.”

“I wouldn’t dream of keeping anything from Bella. We’d never avoid subjects, and I know everything about her. You’re setting yourself up for ruin, Viktor. It’s never going to be a stable relationship.”

Viktor could feel a headache beginning to burn in his temples. “Thanks for the advice, but I really don’t need it. And if I didn’t know better, I’d have thought you’re trying to tempt me out of going further with Yuuri. I thought getting distracted by him was what you wanted.”

“Well, it’s not exactly a challenge, is it? I want you to be distracted, but I also want bragging rights. No one’s going to believe I bested you if you’re just not even trying.”

Viktor rolled his eyes and stepped away from him. Sometimes, JJ could scare him with some of the things he did and said. He became the thief he hadn’t been before, with the manipulative and calculative streak that others had. But other times, JJ was everything Viktor remembered him being – the child that was too complacent to do anything but stumble into jobs, thinking he was entitled to the prize. “If I was truly trying, you wouldn’t have come close.”

“I know that, but you’re making it too easy for me now.”

“Do you even know where it is?”

JJ, for the first time, seemed struck for words. He glanced away before turning back to Viktor. “It won’t be long before I do find it. And when I do, you’re going to have to find out what to do. You’re on a clock, and you haven’t got a lot of time left.”

If Viktor wasn’t annoyed before, then he was now. He pressed JJ back to the wall, a hard grip on his shoulder pinning him down before the younger man could figure out what to do, and breathed calm the rage inside of him. “You won’t find it, JJ. I’m going to make sure you don’t.”

For a moment, it seemed like JJ was confused. “What, like you’re going to take it first? Do I finally have a competition?”

Viktor gripped JJ’s shoulder harder, feeling both sly pride and a tiny bit of guilt at seeing him flinch. “No,” he said carefully, hearing the acid in his own voice. “No, I’m not going to take it. I’m going to make sure you never come close to it.”

JJ narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“Try your best, but I’m not letting you take something that’s so precious to him.”

“You’re… You’re actually considering on going back on your career? You? _You?_ You take things for fun. Your whole taboo is taking things because they’re important and precious. You find this, something so precious to this guy, and you’re considering becoming its fucking bodyguard? _You?_ ” JJ’s voice was steadily raising in a way Viktor had never heard before. He sounded outraged, fire burning inside his gaze. His hand clenched onto Viktor’s arm, and though it hurt a lot, Viktor didn’t move his arm away. “You’re letting some boring wet blanket ruin your career? I knew he’d be a distraction, but you’re letting him get the best of you?”

Best of Viktor? Well, it was what he wanted to give Yuuri. He wanted Yuuri to see the best of him, to be the best of him, to peel apart a layer that Viktor didn’t know was there. It was already beginning. He felt like a new, better person with Yuuri.

JJ didn’t let him have a chance to say anything though before he snapped. He moved so quickly that Viktor couldn’t keep up and only noticed that JJ had broken out of his hold when his arm flared in pain. JJ stood to his side, teeth clenched tightly in rage. “It’s not going to last anyway. Being distracted is fine – great for me, in fact – but you’re willing to ruin everything you’ve worked for just for this one guy? He’s never going to believe you. You’re going to be left alone again.”

Viktor didn’t want to show the man how much that hit him. He knew he was doing this for selfish reasons – if he really cared for Yuuri, he should do as he had thought a thousand times and just leave. There would be other ways to deal with JJ, maybe even make deals that he really didn’t want to make, forfeiting certain treasures and giving up so much. But he didn’t want to. He wanted to stay with Yuuri for as long as the man wanted him by his side. He’d take every small second, every dragged minute, every breath-taking moment if he could. Even if, in that time, Yuuri was nothing but suspicious and paranoid, never giving Viktor everything of himself.

Viktor hadn’t known what euphoria meant before. Just happy, or the happiest of happy. He thought he was at his happiest stealing in the early years - then when that wore down, it was spending time with his family. Then it was when he was with Makkachin. That was the closest he had come. Playing with Makkachin while his thieving family were around him. But there was also something heavier lurking.

He reached pure euphoria when he was with Yuuri. Yuuri looked beyond who he was and everything he did, he drew more of Viktor out.

He didn’t want to lose that, despite knowing it would have to end sooner or later.

“Tell me, JJ – if the roles were reversed, and it was Isabella that was someone you were meant to be stealing from, what would you do? If you were sent to take something from her family, and you saw her. What would you do?”

For the first time, JJ faltered. He replied, “But this is different.”

“How is it different?”

“Don’t try to get out of answering my question.”

“You’re avoiding mine.”

JJ glared harder, the childish expression reminding Viktor of the first time he had met JJ years ago, when the boy had been an arrogant child claiming he’d become a better thief. Back when Viktor had still loved his career, when he believed it would be what would drive him for the rest of his life.

JJ said, “Fine, protect it. Do whatever you want. It’s still a challenge for me.” He turned away, waving limply. “But good luck protecting it when you don’t even know where it is.”

***

Priority one. Find where the item was.

It sounded easy. He doubted it would be. Even Yuuri had said it was somewhere no one else would ever look, and Viktor was inclined to believe him. So, he knew there was only one hope of ever figuring it out.

That was following someone who did know where to look.

That was Yuuri.

If Viktor didn’t feel bad enough before, now he felt disgusting. The thought of sneaking around and following Yuuri to find something he desperately kept a secret sent shockwaves through his body. But he tried to convince himself that this was for Yuuri’s interests. He was protecting something Yuuri desperately wanted to keep hidden, and so he was redeeming himself in some way.

Except he knew he wasn’t. He should come clean and tell Yuuri everything rather than beating around the bush and avoiding the subject. Yuuri clearly wanted to talk about it but didn’t know how, so he should be the bigger person and admit it. Then he could tell Yuuri how he hoped to help him protect it.

But there were so many problems. Yuuri wouldn’t believe him. He’d think Viktor was playing a game, and there would be no way for Viktor to convince him otherwise.

There was nothing he could do but do as he planned and keep it all a secret from Yakov.

The man was going to explode if he ever found out.

As if Viktor needed more reasons to feel like he was being stretched between two pulling forces. He didn’t try to think about it too much, knowing it would bring him nothing but pain.

Viktor, after his years of being in the career he was, was pretty good at disguises if he did say so himself. He could walk up to someone and convince them he was someone else, and it was only his family that could tell the difference.

That’s what he did. He snuck home, disguised himself, and then walked back into town dressed as someone completely different. Brown hair, glasses, green eyes, a slight shadow of stubble on his chin. He wore clothes he would never dare, walked differently, changed his mannerisms until everything about himself stopped screaming Viktor. He was good at it. Too good at it.

Usually, approaching a target in disguise send an excited shiver up his spine. But the thought of facing Yuuri as anyone but himself made him feel sick.

Yuuri was walking around town with someone else at the time, a young woman. Viktor recognised her slightly, though it took him a moment to realise it was because she was employed as one of the maids in the Katsuki house. She was pretty, small, with a smile that brightened the darkness around her. But Viktor’s gaze was on Yuuri and how his own smile shone thousands of miles. His cheeks were pink from smiling so much, wrinkles around his eyes from the happiness and how he clutched at his stomach as he almost doubled with laughter.

He looked the happiest Viktor had ever seen him. It sent a pang through his chest.

He stepped out from the alley, almost running into Yuuri. All according to plan.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” he apologised, catching Yuuri before he could fall. He deepened his voice until it was raspy towards the end. No matter how many times he saw Yuuri, it still felt like that first time. Yuuri was just as beautiful, perhaps more so now that he knew what the man’s personality was like, and it had him pausing for just a second. He corrected himself. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“I-It’s okay,” Yuuri replied, standing up and attempting to press away Viktor’s hands away. “Don’t worry about it.”

He looked suspicious. Not the same suspicious that he was around Viktor, but stranger suspicious. So it worked. Viktor felt both elation and depression at that – he didn’t want Yuuri to know it was him immediately and feel like every one of his paranoias were true, but he also felt as if Yuuri didn’t feel the same as he did if he couldn’t recognise Viktor. Perhaps he was just a passing fancy for the other man, or someone that was going to be cut once the rumours died down completely.

Viktor continued trying to help centre Yuuri once more, despite Yuuri’s attempt to stop Viktor. Once Yuuri was standing again, he let go. “Please, let me pay for your lunch as an apology.”

“No, thank you. I’m alright. Have a nice day,” Yuuri rushed hastily before he turned away. He was whispering to the woman about something, glancing backwards.

Viktor turned away and continued walking, feeling a shape in the middle of his hand. Once he was out of sight, he opened it.

He felt even worse now, knowing that he had officially stolen from the love of his life. The traditional bumping-into-the-target-and-stealing-from-pockets method always helped Viktor when he was stuck in some sort of rut – not something that happened a lot.

Usually, he stole money or keys. He expected something like that from Yuuri, some sort of key that would open whatever was holding the hidden secret, but it wasn’t. Yuuri was so different from everything Viktor expected, but just as he felt like he was getting close to figuring the man out, Yuuri threw him through a loop again.

What was in his hand was not a key but a coin, a coin unlike anything he had ever seen before.

It was not round, but a jumble of misshapen metal, chewed until it was nothing that it once was. Some parts of it was still shiny, while others had been worn down to the matte metal beneath, unbuffed and raw. Besides that, there hadn’t been anything else but a bank card and a phone in Yuuri’s pocket.

Something about it was important enough for Yuuri to take it out into town with him.

Viktor gripped it tightly in his hand and stuffed his fist into his pocket.

Now that he knew a route, he could get into the Katsuki house without much thought. Now, their guards didn’t even make him flinch, their footsteps almost bringing him calm. The day they were gone, that was when he knew he should be worried.

He thought the best place to look first would be Yuuri’s room. He thought he knew Yuuri, and the man liked to keep important things close. Included the dog basket in the middle of the room, belonging to a dog long gone, and the chewed-up coin that he carried around with him.

He searched everything, included places that usually other families used as hiding places. He checked underneath the bed, for hollows in the wall, any secret compartments behind the wardrobe or the shelves or cases, anything behind paintings, secret codes written in books and more. But there wasn’t anything.

He found more pictures of a younger Yuuri and his dog. In one, the puppy had just come to the family, cuddled in Yuuri’s small arms and with its tongue lolling from its mouth. Yuuri’s family was around him, smiling brightly to the camera that must have been held by one of the staff. One shortly after that, Vicchan had the collar around his neck. It almost seemed to weigh him down, too big for his puppy neck, and yet he looked comfortable in it. Viktor couldn’t blame him – if Yuuri gave him anything, he would protect it and use it whenever he could without anything close to a complaint.

As the puppy grew, he also grew into the collar. It rested around his neck like it belonged there, like a crown to royalty. Over the years, it never lost its shine. The one rare stone in the middle of all the rest never dulled.

Viktor was sure that this was the treasure that they’d been hiding. The precious puppy’s beloved collar, gifted by a child that had found the answer to loneliness in the furry companion. Yuuri never gifted anything expensive to anyone, only Vicchan.

What Viktor thought odd though was that the pictures abruptly ended. The dog was only a few years old before it stopped appearing in pictures, as Viktor had noticed when he first sifted through the photo albums in the living room. The dog didn’t begin to gather grey fur around his snout as Makkachin was getting to. Vicchan didn’t have pictures of him enjoying sleep more than playing. He did not age with Yuuri.

He died suddenly, Viktor guessed. It would explain a little more of why Yuuri felt such strong loyalty to the collar, especially if it was the only thing he had left of the beloved puppy. Perhaps there was some guilt wrapped in that, or a longing for it back, or there was still pain. Maybe there was something Viktor didn’t really know.

No, he knew there was something he didn’t know.

He placed the pictures back and continued looking around the room, double checking everything. Still nothing. Yuuri’s room was clean.

He moved on to another room.

It looked unassuming, just a grand dining room used for events and special guests. There was still a maid cleaning when he snuck in and hid behind the velvet curtains as she sung to herself.

It hadn’t been used for a very long time. The carpet beneath the chairs was immaculate, the chairs not used much, the table surface unscratched, the cutlery still out. The maid finished her cleaning and left, clicking the door quietly behind her.

He snuck out from behind the curtain and began to search the room. He’d seen rooms like this many times in the houses he had stolen from. With such a large house, rooms were separated into public and private, the private decorated to be exactly what the houseowners wanted, while the public decorated to accept the social view of perfection. This room went against everything he knew the Katsukis to be, filled with silver, expensive items, traditional paintings, too much detail. He suspected it had come with the house, rather than Yuuri’s parents taking the time and effort to fill it out. It stayed as a requirement.

But it was clean. Nothing there suggested any secret components, no hidden cupboards, nothing that a collar could be secreted in.

Viktor was beginning to get a little frustrated, if he had to admit it. He understood that Yuuri wanted to keep it as hidden as he could, but if only he knew where it was, then it could potentially go missing before he even noticed it. If Viktor knew, well he could protect it too.

Not that Yuuri would agree.

He searched a few more rooms, including the library once more, a small study on the first floor, a hobby room, the living room again, and their personal dining room. There was nothing. He thought he knew Yuuri well enough to guess where the hidden item could be, but he suspected he didn’t.

As the night began to come in, the family came back home. He could hear the main door closing heavily every time a one of the family members came in. When he heard Yuuri’s voice travelling up the stairs, he knew it was time to go.

It was late. Yuuri didn’t visit any other room beside his own, a room Viktor knew was clean. So, he wasn’t visiting the hidden treasure tonight. Viktor escaped out of the window before anyone could notice him.

***

It wasn’t until three nights later Viktor began to get a clue.

He’d been following Yuuri every night, convinced that he’d feel safe in the darkness and try to check on the treasure. So far, he hadn’t done anything other than rest in his room and go out with a few friends in town.

Viktor and Yuuri hadn’t met up since the party, though they messaged one another every day that they could. Viktor expressed how much he missed the other man, but his job was getting busier – which wasn’t a lie, just not the whole truth. Yuuri replied saying that he missed Viktor too. It made him feel worse and better at the same time.

On the third night, when Viktor was convinced that JJ would make an impatient move soon, that something finally happened. He knew Yuuri loved food. Whenever they ate together, Yuuri took his time choosing his food, as if it was something so vastly important that it needed time. He talked about his mother’s cooking a lot too, and how her food featured a lot in his childhood, how certain smells could bring back that nostalgia.

That was why it didn’t surprise him when at midnight Yuuri went for a midnight snack.

Viktor hid on one of the larger pantry shelves, hidden in the darkness, while he watched Yuuri scan through the food in the fridge and the cupboards.

But he didn’t leave once he had found something to eat. An apple in hand, he took a bite and walked to the pantry, narrowly missing Viktor’s hiding place. He stood and stared at the back wall for a while, chewing on the bite he had taken.

He reached into his pocket, taking out some tweezers. With that, he began to pry loose a brick of the wall in the corner. It was almost hidden by the hanging garlic, but even had those not been there, Viktor wouldn’t have noticed anything strange about the brick. It looked as solid as the rest, as if it had never been moved.

Once it was gone, Yuuri placed the brick down on a shelf carefully, making sure that none of it chipped. It opened a hole that curved, completely submerged in darkness. Yuuri took another bite of his apple and reached in, the whole so deep he was almost touching the wall with his shoulder.

He brought out a few things. Some were coins similar to what Viktor had managed to take from Yuuri days ago, chewed up and bitten until they were almost unidentifiable. Another thing he brought out was a slip of paper, covered in some dust, a little wrinkled from being folded so much. There were some photos too, ones Viktor suspected were of Vicchan.

And the last thing he brought out was the collar.

It was brighter than Viktor had seen in photos, smaller than he expected, and more beautiful than any photos could give justice. It didn’t catch Viktor’s attention for long though. Despite its priceless attraction, it was Yuuri’s face that captured Viktor’s gaze.

He looked down at it with eyes that told a thousand stories. They sparkled in the reflection of the glittering stones, shining almost with unshed tears, unable to look away. He held it so carefully as if it would break, and he almost seemed to hold his breath. If Viktor doubted it before, he knew now just how important this was to Yuuri. Not because it was a priceless treasure, but because of all the hopes, all the sadness, the nostalgia, the emotions it held for him. Because it was the last thing he had of a pet that game him everything.

It made Viktor feel a flare of need, knowing he needed to protect it. If he wanted Yuuri happy, he had to do this.

It made him feel guilty too. He truly was a monster for thinking he could steal this and make a profit of something that was beyond money. A cretin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never thought we'd actually get here, but here it is. Fun Fact! This is actually how my cousin used to hide the sweets he bought from lunchtime at school so his mum didn't know he was eating things he shouldn't be. No one found it for years, until my cousin actually showed it to us while he was drunk. By that time though, he was 21 and showing where he was hiding spirits and condoms XD 
> 
> What did you think? What is Viktor going to do? Or what is Yuuri going to do? Is it going to be smooth-sailing? (spoiler: that's just not me.)
> 
> You can find updates on my tumblr 
> 
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	14. I'd Love To

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by me, so sorry for all the mistakes in advance. I had to rush through too, because I've not had a lot of time. Many apologies in advance!

"Do you think thieves walk quietly?”

Yuuko stopped eating mid bite, turning slowly toward him. “What?”

“Thieves. They have to be quiet for their job, don’t they? So, are they like that all the time? Do they walk without noise?” Yuuri asked. “Do they… Do they dance quietly? When they move, do they always have to be silent?”

“I guess so,” she replied, keeping an eye on him as she turned back to her food.

They were sat on the step of the kitchen exit, listening to the kitchen staff preparing the evening meal hours in advance. It was Yuuko’s break, and Yuuri often found himself here with her when he could. She was calm company.

“Is it unconscious? Do they have to think about it?”

“I suppose after so long training, it just comes without thinking. I mean, I’m able to do my job here really easily without thinking, but when I started it was one of the hardest things I had come across. You could blindfold me and I would be able to do it now.”

“I can’t do it. I’ve tried walking quietly, and even when I’m on the carpets I still make some sort of noise.”

Yuuko smirked. “You’ve tried?”

“I was curious,” Yuuri replied, cheeks burning slightly. “But it was hard. So if I trained enough, I could do it? And if I could learn to do that, could I learn to do other things?”

Her smirk vanished and she placed her food down. “Like what?”

“Like… Like stealing something without others realising for a long time. Or taking information from you without you ever realising you said something at all. Or just… just making you think something that isn’t true.” Or something as cheesy as Viktor managing to steal his heart.

As if sensing his upset, Yuuko clasped his hand. “That’s a pretty big jump, Yuuri. Anyone can walk quietly with enough practice. Those other things actually take skill and manipulation. I’m sure not every thief is like that.”

“I wouldn’t really know.” He’d only ever met two, that he suspected. “But what if they were? What if someone I thought was amazing turned out to be one of these thieves? How am I meant to trust them? If they walk quietly, what else is quiet about them?”

Yuuko shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose it comes to how you feel. It’s all well and good to do what’s right, but I often find most of my best decisions were made on emotion. Instinct is a great and powerful thing, Yuuri.”

Instinct. Yuuri hadn’t actually given any thought to that, but instinct had told him to listen to how Viktor didn’t make a sound as he moved. Even as people walked, when their clothes shifted or their bodies made noises as they moved, Viktor didn’t. Only when he talked and only when he wanted to. Perhaps he hadn’t expected Yuuri to notice, or maybe he’d been doing it for so long he didn’t realise it anymore. Being silent took training – training a normal company worker would never have.

Reason was telling him that Viktor was no good and should be avoided. Instinct asked when they were going to meet him again.

Out of nervous habit, he slipped his hand into his pocket and palmed a chewed coin. The last one he had had gone missing somewhere the last time he went to town with Yuuko – he wasn’t surprised though, he had lost enough in his time from sitting down, slipping out of his pocket, jumping around, or just dropping them down holes. He was slowly getting through the few he had left.

They were the only thing left of a crappy birthday he had as a child. As per tradition, rich children should have at least one birthday party that the other rich kids attended – another excuse for a social gathering. It would have been weird if Yuuri didn’t have it either, and so he sucked up his displeasure and did it, just once.

The other kids didn’t know what to give him because they never took the time to actually get to know him, so they gave him coins – what they had been taught by parents to think was important; money. He received exactly twenty-four coins of all shapes and sizes that day, a coin from each child that hadn’t known what to get him and thought he’d be happy with that. He gave the coins to Vicchan when he noticed how much the puppy liked to chew things.

Looking back, he knew he probably shouldn’t have. Vicchan could have choked, but he didn’t. He worked his way through each of the twenty-four coins and bit them into a mess, until each one became its own individual prize. He’d kept it for a reminder of what realisations that birthday had brought. Now he kept them because they were the rare things he had left of his puppy.

“Yeah, it is,” he agreed. “Do you think I could do it? Learn how to sneak around and spy on people? I wonder how much I’d see?”

Yuuko giggled. “You’d become like Phichit. I don’t think you want to know all the things he does.”

Ah, yes, Phichit. His best friend hadn’t come back to him yet, and Yuuri hoped it meant that he hadn’t found anything. Realistically, he knew it was because he had given him three people to find, and as it was coming from him, Phichit would want to be thorough. Yuuri expected him any day now, and the uneasiness never faded from him.

“I don’t,” Yuuri agreed. But there was only one person he wanted to know fully about. “But it would be interesting, don’t you think?”

Yuuko leaned back and gazed out to the tree line, watching as the guards ran their drills and trained some of the new recruits. “I’ve come across enough as a maid in a rich household. I’ve had enough of finding out secrets for a lifetime.”

Yuuri narrowed his eyes. “What secrets have you found out since being here?”

She smirked, sending him a wink. “Oh, Yuuri. For one, who do you think changes your bed?”

Yuuri continued watching his friend, unsure of where it was going.

Yuuko cleared up his confusion as her smirk grew more mischievous. “It’s me. Every time. Including the time you had a little night-time visitor a little while ago.”

Yuuri’s cheeks flared immediately and he moved to ask Yuuko more, but the woman was already getting up to escape.

***

He was sure he hadn’t given too much away to Viktor in their many conversations. Even when he didn’t know the man was a thief – or a potential one – he was careful with the information he told people about himself, including anything that spurred the rumours that the ex-maid passed around.

Now he felt like leaving bread crumbs to see what Viktor would do with it. If he gave hints, what would Viktor do? If he told the man what he was hiding, where he was hiding it, how much it meant to him, or how much it could potentially be if sold, what route would Viktor take? A test. He wondered if he could do it.

But he didn’t want to have the outcome he knew would come. He didn’t want to be torn to pieces over just a little curiosity.

The idea was killed completely though when he next met with Viktor. The man seemed jittery as they walked through town, glancing around as if he expected someone to be following. Yuuri understood some of his agitation, Yuuri felt it spurring through his body every day, especially now since his suspicions about Viktor had come about, after what JJ said. But he didn’t understand why Viktor was the one nervous, especially since that nervous energy wasn’t because of Yuuri.

“Are you alright?” he asked the man, clenching his hand in Viktor’s a little tighter in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. Despite his reservations, despite his reason telling him he should stay away from Viktor, he knew he couldn’t. Despite what the man was, Yuuri loved him. Until everything collapsed into a mess, he knew he would continue to, and that love begged for him to stay close and touch Viktor.

Viktor turned to him, blinking in confusion as if he had forgotten Yuuri was paying attention. “Oh, yes. I’m okay. More than okay when I’m with you.”

Yuuri’s cheeks blushed. Compliments and flirtatious phrases seemed to spill from Viktor’s mouth without much effort. “You’re looking around for something.” He paused and dared to ask, “Is it JJ?”

Viktor always seemed to flinch whenever Yuuri mentioned something about JJ or about the suspicions of what he was, as if he kept forgetting Yuuri knew. Yuuri glanced down, noticing once more how Viktor didn’t seem to make a single noise, not even as the hard soles of his loafers stepped onto the concrete floor.

Viktor surprised him by saying after some hesitation, “Yes.”

“Have you seen him anywhere? Is he following?” Yuuri glanced over his shoulder, but he couldn’t see anything. They were the same bobbing sea of heads, the same rushing workers and shoppers. Nothing new.

“He isn’t here yet.”

“‘Yet’?”

“I suspect he’s developed a fascination for you, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he was.”

“Me? Because… because of the rumours?” He knew he was skating on thin ice. He was skirting close to the topic neither of them wanted to talk about, and he could feel it in the way his heart raced at his own words.

“Mainly because of me,” Viktor admitted with a lowered voice. He was glancing at the windows they passed, but Yuuri suspected he wasn’t paying attention. He just didn’t want for Yuuri to see what was crossing his expression. “Because he knows how I feel about you.”

“How you… how you feel about me?”

At that, Viktor did turn around. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. Yuuri felt the breath leave his lungs at the completely raw expression on Viktor’s face, how his eyes seemed to grow deeper than he had ever seen, how everything he felt for Yuuri seemed to be written on his face in a foreign language Yuuri understood. Actual words wouldn’t be able to describe it accurately.

“O-Oh,” he said, awestruck. His heart hammered at twice the speed, the colour blushing deeply in his cheeks until it reached the bottom of his neck. “And… and he doesn’t want that?”

Viktor turned away again, but his hand squeezed Yuuri’s back. “He doesn’t want me distracted. I want to keep being distracted though, and it infuriates him.”

Yuuri didn’t know why, but that brought a smile to his lips. He turned the other way to make sure Viktor didn’t see it. “What will he do?”

“There isn’t anything he can do right now. Everything is closed off to him.”

Yuuri wasn’t sure what he was saying, and he didn’t really want to ask, but it sounded good either way. If there wasn’t anything JJ could do, perhaps he would leave them alone. “Good,” he said, stopping Viktor where he was. Viktor turned back, about to ask what they were stopping for, but Yuuri smiled up at the man. Something overcame him then, something that replaced the paranoia, something burning. It had come to him times before, especially when Viktor was in the same room, but perhaps it was Viktor’s confession that had brought it on this time. “So, tell me more about how you feel about me? How exactly am I a distraction?”

Viktor blinked.

Yuuri took his hesitation to drag him into a concealed alley. He pressed the older man to the wall, circling his arms around his neck. “Tell me what that raw expression meant when I asked you. If you could put it into words, how do you feel about me?”

He was goading him. Yuuri knew he was. He was pressing for an answer that perhaps Viktor wasn’t ready to give, and Yuuri knew he had his own hesitation about confessing his own, especially with how he felt about Viktor right now. It was complicated.

But instincts were screaming at him. They told him it was time. He had high hopes for how it was going to turn out. A vision. He was going to push Viktor into a corner until he knew exactly how he was going to deal with the situation.

Viktor surprised him once again by circling his arms around his waist and grinning from ear to ear. “How do I feel about you? I feel distracted. Conflicted. Obsessed. Blinded. Thrilled. Hopeful. Jealous.”

Yuuri tilted his head to the side, feeling Viktor’s breathing on his face. “That’s a lot to feel.”

“Love’s a lot to feel.”

Yuuri had thought so, but it still shocked him to hear Viktor say it. He shouldn’t feel thrilled at hearing it, not right now with how he suspected what Viktor was, what he was getting close to Yuuri for, but it brought a cheesy smile to his face that he couldn’t kill.

“It is,” he agreed, his voice almost choking. He pressed a kiss to Viktor’s lips. Viktor pressed one back.

***

Give him a chance. A second chance. So many people had been telling him that and it was something he had wanted to hear, but he had wanted to wait until Phichit replied before he did anything. Be careful. Be vigilant. Perhaps he could leave little bread crumbs for Viktor and trick him into revealing himself, but every time he thought about it, he thought of Viktor’s lips against his, his sweet words.

As a puzzle began to form inside his head, he saw it from another side. He pieced the things together, added his instinct, and a picture began to form.

What if… what if it was different? What if Viktor had come forward and faced him that night at the party with the intention of finding what he was hiding? And what if he didn’t ask anymore because he had fallen in love with Yuuri? What if that’s where the tension came?

It was a high hope, but it made his chest flutter as if a thousand butterflies were flying a storm inside. It would explain why Viktor had never asked, and why he had the job he did. But it also sounded too good to be true.

He was too anxious for Phichit’s answer. No matter what it was, it was going to make or break his idea of Viktor.

His thoughts were cut off. He was walking home, and he glanced towards the tree line. His house was just a hundred yards away. Dusk was setting in, the trees cutting off the light. It used to calm him, but now it unsettled him, thinking that there was someone like JJ watching from the shadows.

He thought himself paranoid until he did see something move in the bushes. He listened, but couldn’t hear anything. But he reminded himself that thieves didn’t have footsteps. They were too light, too practiced.

With that in mind, he began to wander towards the bushes.

For a moment, nothing happened. He reached out his hand, his heart hammering, waiting or something to happen. He prepared himself for a fright.

He must have gotten too close. Whatever it was on the other side, it was spooked by his slow steps. It darted away.

Its footsteps were light even as it ran. He had no doubt then what it was. He chased after it.

He crashed through the tree growth and ran as quickly as he could, trying to avoid the low hanging branches and the fallen logs on the ground. It took all of his concentration, while it seemed easy to the person before him.

For he knew it was a person now. He could see their silhouette cast against the darkness, retreating further from him. They ran on light feet, avoiding the obstacles as if they were nothing to him. But that wasn’t what Yuuri first noticed.

The first thing he did notice was the man’s shape. It was familiar, clad in dark clothing, a hood pulled tightly over his head. He was definitely familiar. And he knew why.

His eyes snapped wider and he ran faster. The branches were cutting his arms, tearing at his top. He put himself through all of his stamina training, everything his teacher had taught him, because he knew this was where it really counted.

The thief glanced backwards, and Yuuri was hoping for a peek at his face but he was too concealed in the darkness, hood pulled too tightly. This time, he didn’t have a knife in his hand, but Yuuri wasn’t going to take any chances. Perhaps the thief had it hidden in his hoodie somewhere. Perhaps he was leading Yuuri into a trap.

“What are you doing here?” he called to the person, unsure of if he could hear him. He jumped over a log and raced after the thief, growing increasingly frustrated as he noticed that the space wasn’t shortening. The breath in his lungs was getting harder to draw. “Are you going to try and stab my sister again?”

If the other man did hear, even as the whistling wind rushed by, then they didn’t react. It only helped to infuriate Yuuri further.

He was a small thief, with a fluid way of running, slim legs. Just as Yuuri remembered.

Just as he thought the space was shrinking a tiny bit, the thief sped up. It was getting darker. The sun was setting too quickly.

He blinked and a moment later the thief was gone. He slowed. He thought the thief might have vanished into thin air before he heard ruffling above him. The leaves were parting as the thief jumped from branch to branch. He wasn’t nearly as quiet this time, the branches creaking as its weight crashed onto it.

Yuuri did his best to chase after, but the thief was too quick. It disappeared into the darkness before Yuuri could think of something. He stopped, panting as he glanced around, looking for any sign.

But the trees settled back into its quiet twilight. Birds were settling back to their nests, readying to sleep. The breeze breathed through the branches, singing goodnight to Yuuri. He didn’t hear it. He was too caught up in emotions.

Had the thief been waiting for him? Had he been on his way to the house? Was he going to attack again? Yuuri turned and began to run home.

***

He didn’t sleep that night either. He kept getting out of bed and pulling the curtain, expecting to find the thief standing just in the range of the security light. He would stare out for minutes at a time before convincing himself that he should go to sleep and leave it to the guards, only to find himself back there a few minutes later. He was convinced the thief was waiting to attack his sister again.

At the darkest hours, he began to wonder if the treasure was really worth it. He wondered if he should take it out of its hiding place and give it to the world, show the people who were just so damn curious about it and wait for their disappointment. They’d only want the rare stone in the middle and then they’d leave. Yuuri could be free of them.

But he couldn’t do that. He wasn’t keeping the collar because it had a precious and expensive stone in the middle – he hadn’t even gotten it in the first place because of that. He got it because it reminded him of Vicchan’s sparkling eyes, and he loved how it gave the dog everything when Vicchan had given Yuuri everything. The present was given because Vicchan loved it, not because Yuuri’s family could afford such luxuries.

It was the only thing he had ever asked of his family. It would most likely be the only thing for a very long time. Its meaning was more than the stones it held – it was every emotion Yuuri had gone through as a child, every memory he could remember or had captured in photos, every single second he figured out he was going to be fine after so long of thinking he wouldn’t be. It was the answer to his loneliness, the company to his thoughts, the remainder of a best friend.

It was the only thing he had left of Vicchan after he was killed.

The thieves around him were coming for the priceless quality and the mystery of the hidden secret. They thought he guarded it because of that, but they’d be disappointed if they knew the truth.

Viktor would be disappointed.

Yuuri closed the curtain again and shook his head. Viktor wouldn’t be anything. He wasn’t here just for the collar anymore, he was sure. He hadn’t ever asked him anything, and what Viktor knew, Yuuri was sure he had been the one to tell the older man. He’d given away information, both knowingly and unknowingly. He had tried to bait Viktor, but the only suspicious thing Viktor had asked about was if the collar was still in the house.

Really, it wasn’t that suspicious. Anyone could have asked it.

He collapsed on the bed face first, rolling again until he was lying on his side. Sleep deprivation was creeping on him, burning behind his eyes, lulling his mind into a fog. He was thinking too much. He fell asleep, Viktor’s smiling expression burned behind his eyelids as he drifted.

***

He told his family what he saw. He expected Mari to have some reaction, especially as the thief he had chased was the one that had stabbed her hand. However, she nodded along, mind already turning cogs on how they could better guard the place.

He loved his family. They gave in to the request of paying for an expensive rare stone for a dog, and then they had hired guards and secretive employees to keep it a secret once the dog had passed away. Even after these years, they took it seriously. All for Yuuri.

“Maybe you need to find a new place for it, Yuuri,” his mother was telling him, settling a hand on his shoulder. “It might be safer somewhere else. They all think it’s here.”

“We already moved it from the library and that was risky enough,” Yuuri argued. “It’s not very easy to conceal.”

“If you hide it underneath baggy or massive clothing-”

“It’s not the weather to be wearing baggy or massive clothing. Someone will definitely find that suspicious. If they decide to attack me, then there’s no way it can be protected. I can fight one off, but not all of them.”

“I’ll help you move it,” Mari said. “I can fight them too.”

“But isn’t that suspicious too?”

“It’s just us siblings going for a walk.”

“And if someone decides to follow us? What do we do then?” There were too many factors now that there seemed to be an army of thieves waiting for him to do something. If he seemed to be doing something out of the ordinary, no doubt they would all swoop in without a word and he’d be damned.

For just a moment, he wondered if he could enlist the help of Viktor. But that thought was just for a second before he shook his head and pushed it from his mind.

“If they get into the house, Yuuri,” his father began, his words careful and his tone gentle, “then they have ways of finding it. It’s a risk keeping it here. It’s a risk moving it. We need to weight up those risks and figure out which one is the smallest.”

“I think keeping it here is the best idea,” Yuuri replied. “I’m the only one who knows where it is. People pass it every day and they have no idea. If people who live here or work here can’t find it, then how are some thieves going to?”

“They have ways. Not many thieves leave a treasure once they’ve started hunting it. Some stay for years, Yuuri.”

“They’re not going to find it. Besides, the rumours have started dying down. No one knows what it even is. Thieves can’t possibly chase a target they don’t even know, can they?”

His family glanced at one another, just as unsure as he was. No one could claim they understood what a thief would do – none of them had encountered them before. But Yuuri thought it was logical, especially as thieves couldn’t afford to chase just rumours alone when there was real treasure out there. As long as he kept it a secret, as long as it was never found, then they would end up leaving. They had to.

Wouldn’t they?

“They’re going to keep chasing. Do you want to be watching everyone? Always looking over your shoulder for whoever might be a thief and who might not be? You’re going to always be paranoid until you’re sure it’s somewhere no one will ever find it.”

“It’s pretty well hidden now,” Yuuri argued, though as he said it he found it difficult to say. He knew there was something odd about it – he had already had to move the collar from the library to the pantry. He was worried someone had seen, and his heart hammered every time he reached in to grab it, wondering if this was the time it wouldn’t be there. It always was, but he couldn’t stop the fear that one day it wouldn’t be. One day, gone, already sold off somewhere, stone broken off and waiting in some glass case in someone’s house. A trophy, with no understanding of what it had meant to someone like him.

“If you’re confident about the hiding place,” his mother said gently, placing her hand on his with a soft smile pulled on her lips, “then that’s fine with us.”

He wasn’t confident. But he doubted anywhere he put it would be good enough for him. Right now, where it was, he thought was the best place he could hide it. Anywhere else would be just as nerve-wracking.

“They’re going to keep trying until they find something,” his father sighed. “We’ll just need to make sure the guards are aware of it.”

“But the thieves will be able to get through the guards easily. We need to make sure the other staff are aware – they’re the eyes and ears that we need. The thieves won’t even think anything of them.”

“Then that’s what we can do,” Yuuri carefully said. “Maybe placing some of the guards in as disguised staff.”

He had the feeling it wasn’t going to work.

***

He rolled chewed up coin in his hand as he waited for Viktor to come. It was already ten minutes later than they had already agreed, and he was beginning to get nervous. Something had gone wrong. Or maybe Viktor decided he wasn’t worth it. Perhaps he’d grown bored.

Just as he thought it, there was a knock on his door.

It felt odd that Viktor was visiting as the night was falling outside. His parents were beginning to settle for bed, and his sister was most likely going outside for her last cigarette before she settled down too. Yuuri has asked the staff to allow Viktor in without making too much of a fuss.

Yuuri opened the door and there he stood, a panting mess as his cheeks flared red.

Yuuri stepped aside and Viktor rushed in, throwing his coat off. Viktor said, “I’m sorry for being late. Yakov decided he wanted to call me just as I was heading out.”

He closed the door behind Viktor. “Any problems?”

“No, no. Just the same thing as before – he’s chasing me on something to do with our job.”

Slowly, Yuuri hoped he was piecing together some sort of story from the little things Viktor did tell him. It wasn’t a complete puzzle yet, but he was getting there, even if he didn’t understand most of it. “Oh? Are you not doing what you’re meant to?”

“Not really.”

“Why’s that?”

Viktor turned and cupped Yuuri’s cheeks, rubbing his thumbs against Yuuri’s skin. “Because I’d rather spend the time with you.”

His heart hammered harder in his chest and he almost melted into Viktor’s hold. No matter whatever he thought of Viktor, the man could say one thing and it would change his whole view. He guessed that was love though – he thought he had loved before, with his one mistake, but now he knew the difference. This feeling, being warm in someone’s embrace and their words, of feeling comfortable and yet knowing there’s a well of more emotions inside you, that was love. Love was complicated, never simple. Love was distracting in the best possible way.

“You’re such a sweet talker,” he said, unable to stop the smile pulling at his lips.

“I only use my sweet words on you.”

“They’ve worked though. You don’t need to keep saying them.”

Viktor paused for a moment and leaned closer, a quick kiss to his cheek before he pressed his forehead to Yuuri’s. “I want to keep saying them until you understand their meaning. You deserve every single sweet word that I can breathe, until the moment I can’t talk anymore. You deserve all of my time, all of my thoughts. I’m going to keep saying it all until you understand.”

“And when I do understand?”

“Then I’m going to keep saying it, finding more sweet things, showing it in different ways until I can’t anymore.”

Sweet words. They really made him melt until he felt his knees buckling. He grinned harder and pressed a kiss to Viktor’s lips. When he pulled back, he whispered, “Stay over again, Viktor. Show me tonight.”

Viktor’s breath hitched. “I’d love to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess you can call this an inbetween, because... be prepared for next chapter. I plan something very exciting and dramatic, I'm warning in advance! Be prepared! haha 
> 
> You can find me on tumblr   
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	15. Heart Breaking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by the fantabulous whynikkywhy

Viktor wouldn’t ever tire of waking up beside Yuuri.

He was soft in the mornings, skin smooth and a map just ready for Viktor to explore. The blanket would rest against his hip and expose his body to Viktor’s view, for him to see the marks he had left. Larger dots of finger prints and kiss marks littered his body, centred around concentrated and sensitive areas, such as the chest and the bottom of his stomach. His hair would be a mess, a mop of tangled hair from Viktor’s hands and the writhing they had done on the bed. His lips were red and swollen, from kissing and other things, cheeks still puffed red.

He’d flicker his eyes open until it almost stopped Viktor’s heart, and they’d spend hours lying beside one another and cuddling, whispering about nothing and everything, hoping time would slow or come to a complete stop. Outside of Yuuri’s walls, the world didn’t exist. Even as the sun rose and the birds outside sang their songs, Viktor didn’t move. He rested his hand on Yuuri’s hip and stroked him awake.

But such perfect mornings had to come to an end. Most of the time, Viktor was pressed to leave because of his work or because of the guilt. That morning was different. A knock came on the door, and before Viktor knew what was happening, the door was beginning to open.

Yuuri pushed him off the bed. Naked and fumbling, Viktor pushed himself underneath the bed.

A pair of feet stepped from behind the open door. They were clothed in boring black, donned with the uniform of the house staff.

“Master Yuuri,” the person greeted. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” Yuuri replied, breath a little stammered from his sudden wakefulness. Viktor could hear as the other gathered the sheets of the bed to cover his naked body, no doubt awkwardly trying to hide the evidence of what had happened last night. “I’ll be down for breakfast in a little bit. I’ve not long woken up.”

“No rush at all, Master Yuuri.”

“I’ve told you, Gregory, you don’t need to call me Master.”

“It is the way I have been brought up, Master Yuuri. It is simply not easy to be rid of.”

Viktor covered his mouth, attempting to keep the grin at bay. He was going to have to tease the other man about this. He could hear the embarrassment at being called ‘master’ in his voice, no doubt a lingering argument between the two. Viktor was going to tease him until Yuuri was blushing hard with embarrassment.

“Your sister would like to speak to you,” the staff member said. “It is about the report the guards have given of last night.”

Suddenly, the air changed completely. The perfect morning seeped into something more tense, and Yuuri stilled on the bed. There was a moment before Yuuri’s voice broke it.

“Was there something wrong?” he asked, concern plain in his words.

“No, Master Yuuri. Nothing to be worried over. I believe your sister simply wishes to speak to you about preparation plans.”

The tension seemed to ease a little, but there was still something deeper there. Yuuri replied, “Oh. Okay.”

“Your family will be waiting for you down in the dining room.”

Yuuri shifted on the bed above, almost bending the mattress supports until Viktor was crushed beneath. He bit his knuckles to stop himself from almost shouting out from the surprise.

“Okay, thank you,” Yuuri replied.

“Let the man you’re hiding under the bed know he’s welcome too.”

***

It wasn’t exactly how Viktor wanted to meet Yuuri’s family – or, more specifically, his parents. He’d already met Yuuri’s sister and that had ended in threats and a very clear warning, one that had Viktor worrying for his lungs and balls.

It terrified him more that Yuuri’s parents didn’t do that. They smiled politely at him, asked him to sit at their breakfast table with him, and they asked him questions.

They seemed genuine. They reminded him of Yuuri, with their round cheeks and their easy grins. They were kind and they cared for him.

It definitely terrified him. People like the Katsuki’s didn’t build a spa empire like they had just by being nice. They could be ruthless when they needed to be. Viktor could already see that.

He sat awkwardly beside Yuuri, eating some of the toast and bacon the staff had placed before him, trying to ignore the way Mari was glaring daggers his way. There was something curious behind that threat though, questions she wanted to ask. Suddenly being questioned before all of the family, Viktor found himself unable to eat, but out of politeness he took a few bites.

“What kind of work do you do, Viktor?” Yuuri’s mother asked.

Viktor tried not to choke on the toast and tried harder still to avoid Mari’s gaze. “I work for a company that sell things.”

“You’re a salesman?”

“Not me directly. I, uh, gather things and give them to my boss to sell.” He didn’t want to say much more, knowing it sounded exactly like a thief as it was.

“Such as?”

“Anything.” His throat was getting dry. He noticed how Yuuri had paused while he ate, listening to his words heavily. “I specialise in older artefacts.” It was a stretch, but it was something. He was beginning to feel very uncomfortable.

“I knew someone like that,” Yuuri’s father said, taking a sip of the apple juice from a cup. “He bought companies and bettered them, made them into something successful and then tore them apart to sell in chunks. He made quite the profit. Are you well off, Viktor?”

“I… Yes, I am. I have enough money to get by and more.”

“So, you could take care of Yuuri.”

Yuuri groaned and dropped his cutlery. It was the first thing he had done since his parents had started questioning Viktor. “I can take care of myself. And it’s not like I’ve been brought up poor, either. Viktor having money doesn’t mean anything.”

Especially dirty money, Viktor thought, but he kept that to himself. The main reason he felt so awkward was the guilt that began to rear its ugly head again, reminding him of who he was to these people, of how this was still a job. But he was planning on correcting that, he reminded himself. He knew where the collar was, and he was going to protect Yuuri and his precious treasure. He needed Yuuri, and he was going to prove it to everyone.

“I will take care of Yuuri,” he said before Yuuri could say anything. “Just like he’s going to take care of me. I’m going to make him happy, as happy as he’s made me the last few weeks. I’m going to worship him, spend every moment I can with him, spend every single coin of my money on things he wants and things we can share. I want his time, his smiles, his protection. I want him happy.” The words came out before he could stop them, but they streamed out until he felt them gushing out every single thought and feeling. He kept speaking then, because it felt like a relief that he desperately needed. “I can’t even begin to express how much I love Yuuri. If I could, I’m sure you’d understand that I could care for Yuuri. But I can’t, so I hope you trust in my lacklustre words.”

Silence followed and he glanced to where Yuuri’s parents stared at him, unreadable expressions making him more nervous. The only thing to calm his raging heart was Yuuri’s hand in his under the table, clutching tightly at his fingers with an appreciative squeeze.

He expected some threat to follow, perhaps someone like Mari telling him that he’d be held to that promise. But nothing came of it. Yuuri’s mother moved on to say what a lovely breakfast it was, and his father continued to talk about what today would bring. Yuuri never let go of his hand, stroking his thumb across the back of his skin.

Guilt. It wracked him harder than it had for a very long time, pumping the blood harder through his veins. He was eating with the victims of his job, none aware completely of what he was doing here. They trusted him to be in his house, to be beside Yuuri. They didn’t know.

The toast tasted like ash in his mouth. But he was going to make truth out of his words, he promised himself. He was going to do the very best he could to make sure Yuuri never regretted their moments together.

***

But it seemed like wanted to test that resolve. Its challenge was sent as none other than his own family.

After their breakfast, Yuuri’s parents went off to work and Yuuri bid him goodbye at the door. With a quick peck on his lips, Viktor turned away and listened as Yuuri shut the door. He still felt nervous around the guards, body stilling as they patrolled around the house, their marching thrumming to the sound of his rapid heart. He was sure they were going to figure it out somehow and come after him.

As he walked the path out of their estate, something moved in the bushes beside him. His head snapped to the side.

There they were.

To any eye, they might have been hidden. The way they used the shade of the morning sun that cascaded through the trees was perfect, clash of bright colours somehow making them more subtle. Mila was at the front, resting along the bark of a trunk, arms crossed before her chest. Yuri was beside her, hood pulled over his blond hair, hands stashed in his pockets. Georgi gave him a sympathetic smile. And the most terrifying, hiding behind them all, was Yakov.

The way the shadows crawled over him, it made his cold eyes stand out further and they made the skin on Viktor’s back shiver. He had his arms crossed too, eyes staring steadily at where Viktor stood, the wrinkles around his frown deeper than he remembered.

“Did you have a nice breakfast?” Yakov asked.

Viktor opened his mouth but was unsure on what to say, so he closed it again. There wouldn’t be anything he could say anyway. Yakov was good – he would be able to hear the lie before it even left Viktor’s lips.

Yakov continued, “They seemed very comfortable having you in their home. Did you like having your hand held?”

Viktor glanced around. The path between the trees was quiet, though he knew there wasn’t much threat of any guards walking along now. With five thieves trained in listening for their footsteps, the guards would never find anything even if they patrolled this way. But the anxious energy crept along Viktor until he felt paranoia pressing on him. He wondered if this was how Yuuri felt – if this is how he felt when they first met.

“Is this all part of some plan of ours, Nikiforov? Is this leading to something?”

Viktor took a step closer, almost under the cover of the trees. “I’m just being thorough-”

“You’re taking your time.”

“I want to make sure,” Viktor argued back, voice growing slightly. Anger was bubbling inside him. Yakov wasn’t believing a word, and Viktor didn’t know how to get around it. Usually, they would argue and Yakov would claim that Viktor was thrown from the family. Viktor couldn’t be controlled, despite what Yakov wanted. But they always came together again, because they were family. But this was different. Viktor knew he was breaking so many things he had been taught, so many of the bonds he had with Yakov, and it pained him with each step he took. “I’m close, okay? But with JJ here, it’s complicating things-”

“No, _you_ are complicating things. Just get it and leave. JJ won’t follow.”

Viktor wanted to flinch, but he repressed it. It just wasn’t simple anymore. Nothing was simple. Everything was getting so complicated and no one but he knew just how badly it was beginning to unravel.

“What happened, Vitya?” Yakov asked, voice cooling back to its calm tone. “You were so confident before. It was a job you were eager to start. What about this family has stopped you?”

Viktor could still feel Yuuri’s hand in his own, Yuuri’s body against his, his lips against his own, his voice, his gaze, his everything. He felt cold without it. He wanted more mornings with Yuuri’s family, though a little less tense. He wanted to wake up every morning to Yuuri’s body sleeping beside him. He wanted more awkward run-ins with the staff. He wanted the whole employment roll knowing who he was. He wanted it all so desperately, but he knew that getting one family would be rid of the one he had already before him. He wanted to keep them both.

“We spoke about this,” Yakov continued. “Your infatuation with the Katsuki boy doesn’t need to stop. You can continue it, as long as you place the blame on JJ. I thought you’d jump at the opportunity to do it.” When Viktor didn’t reply, Yakov sighed. “But it doesn’t get rid of the guilt that you’d be the one to take it.”

Viktor nodded. It all came down to that, to the guilt. He doubted he’d ever be rid of it.

“There’s nothing that can be done, Viktor. If you don’t get it, then JJ will. He won’t be nearly as careful with it. He’ll lay blame on you. Yuuri won’t forgive you more easily just because it wasn’t you to take it. Whatever happens now, JJ and his group will hunt it down until it’s taken, one way or another.”

“I can protect it,” Viktor whispered before he could stop himself. He saw the ripple of a flinch it brought out in all the thieves before him, glancing at one another. Yakov’s eyes flared, but he didn’t shout.

“Not forever,” he said. “Not the way you are. Protecting it in the best way would be you taking it. JJ and other thieves wouldn’t bother the Katsukis anymore if you did. You know it’s true, Viktor. This won’t end until someone takes it.”

***

They didn’t chat much more after that. Yakov took the others into town, briefing Georgi on another job he was beginning. Viktor was left to walk alone.

He found himself back in his apartment, Makkachin sleeping half on his lap, Chris pouring him a glass of wine. Viktor came clean about everything, finding it easy to talk to his best friend. Though the man could joke about many things, he never once tried to make light of the situation. He said nothing, only allowing Viktor to vent his feelings and his fears, then pushed the wine glass against Viktor’s lips once he was done. It helped relax him. Viktor found himself sleeping before he knew it.

Chris was sleeping on the spare sofa when he woke up. It was light outside, the clock reading mid-day. He left a note for Chris to wake to, placed some food for Makkachin, and then left the apartment.

He had things to settle. He wasn’t sure yet how he was going to go about it, but he knew it began with a phone call.

JJ was a difficult man to get to – or, more appropriately said, he was a stubborn man to reach. But that was alright, because Viktor loved to overcome that and show JJ that a child needed more than a tantrum to stop things from happening.

Guang Hong picked up on the second ring, his voice short and sharp, _“Yes?”_

“Let him know that I’m taking this seriously. He said I was distracted before, I’m not going to be now.”

There was a pause on the other side, and when Guang Hong spoke again, it was strained. _“Viktor? You know it’s not a good idea to goad him.”_

“It wasn’t a good idea for him to goad me either. You make sure to tell him that. I was distracted, but I’m not going to be now. If he wants what Yuuri’s keeping, then he needs to go through me. Tell him that. I want him to know.” He hung up before Guang Hong could say anything.

He’d thought of ways to be able to protect it, and each time he had drawn a blank. Viktor, being the thief that he was, knew how to find hidden things. But keeping them hidden was where he fell short. How to protect something that wasn’t meant to be there?

It took a lot of hours for him to realise. It was as easy as pretending it wasn’t there at all. If he didn’t protect it, then JJ would never know where it was.

He started the plans. He placed small traps around the house – it was a lot more difficult than it was usually, because he was placing them in places that the Katsukis wouldn’t go, or where the guards shouldn’t be. If this was going to go smoothly, then he needed to make sure the people he was protecting never found the things he was leaving behind. After some watching, he figured that none went to the attic – so he placed traps in the attic. None went to the shed a little further in the trees – so he placed traps there too. He placed them everywhere that the family didn’t go, where someone like JJ would think it was hidden.

He left little breadcrumbs, including a few rumours spreading around town about a hidden cellar. Apparently, the ex maid was beginning to remember little bits of information that she hadn’t told anyone before, though she hadn’t spoken at all. Rumours spread again, and at the back of his mind he felt a little guilty that this would raise feelings that he knew Yuuri hated. More people would be watching him, more whispered words behind obviously placed hands, pressured social interactions.

But they needed this. He needed to protect them, and they needed him, though they didn’t know it.

Something about it must have worked. For the next three nights, as Viktor patrolled the Katsuki residence and watched from the treeline, other thieves snuck in. They searched the places the rumours hinted at and searched other places too, but not one stepped foot into the kitchen. Perhaps it was too obvious, or easily overlooked. Either way, Viktor knew it was genius – he had never come across a place that had hidden anything in the kitchen before.

He didn’t do anything. He didn’t want them to know he was there. Only one got caught in any traps, a young thief not of JJ’s group stumbled upon the one in the shed outside the house grounds. He freed himself and left, thinking it had been placed there by the Katsukis. He spread the rumours saying so.

The rumours spread and burned further, igniting once more. They burned nearly as brightly as when they first began, making it hard for Yuuri to leave the house again.

Yuuri stayed mainly in his room. Viktor sometimes watched from the treeline, clutching at his chest at the expression on the other man’s face. He knew he was causing Yuuri pain, but he convinced himself this was for the best. JJ had no inkling that it was him, and it would only take time before he fell fully into the trap.

JJ would be paranoid now at his warning. He’d try to convince himself that this was indeed Viktor’s doing, but evidence proved wrong. He’d try his best to blame Viktor. He’d be running around himself to try and find the connections. He’d find none.

And then he’d come looking himself. He’d step over a line that no thief should cross, and perhaps even interact with the family themselves. Perhaps he’d even try to ransack the house. That would be when Viktor would place the duplicate he had. After JJ’s blind panic, he wouldn’t see the truth from the lie Viktor had placed. He’d leave thinking he had the precious treasure, and Viktor would come clean to Yuuri and tell him that the real treasure had been protected.

Convincing Yakov that JJ had it would also be in that plan somewhere, and no doubt Yakov would demand that they go and steal it back.

All attention would be off of Yuuri.

It sounded clear, easy, and simple.

It would not be clear, easy and simple. So he made sure he knew the plan inside and out, just in case something went wrong as it would obviously do. Until he was sure that he had a contingency plan for every possible occurrence, Viktor replayed the plan in his mind over and over again.

It was on the night of the fourth day that JJ finally showed himself. In the dead of night, as the moon hung high in the sky, he tore himself from the shadows of the trees. He marched down the grass, walking at such a brisk pace that Viktor could almost feel the agitation in his form. He narrowly missed the patrolling guards before he was sneaking in through one of the open widows.

Viktor descended from his hiding place and followed, making sure that there was some space between them.

He loved seeing the tension in JJ’s form. It sung songs inside him, his lips pulling into a smile. JJ couldn’t beat him at his own damn game, not when he had made it.

JJ was quietly moving through the dark halls, a set determination in his movement. He knew where he was going.

Viktor had already placed fake collars around the house in hopes for this night. Most were concealed expertly, hidden underneath barely-loose floorboards or inside panels of windows – anywhere an expert thief should be looking.

JJ jumped behind a statue as a group of three guards descended the staircase. Viktor followed suit and hid behind grand curtains. He didn’t move until JJ moved.

They snuck up into the library.

That confused Viktor. None of the rumours he had spread said anything about the library. It was where the ex-maid had said she originally saw the treasure, but that had been long ago. It had been moved before the rumours even spread.

He watched as JJ almost tore the room apart, pulling the books from their shelves, ripping the chairs open, pulling apart the cupboards. He made no effort to put them back where he had found them, and it made Viktor’s heart ache seeing it. He’d help Yuuri put it all back tomorrow, he promised himself.

When he found nothing, JJ moved onto Yuuri’s father’s study. There, he did the same, tearing things apart and pulling things down, ripping documents that Viktor had no doubt were important. JJ cursed when he found nothing and moved on.

When they reached the personal living room, Viktor felt the need to intervene. JJ took the family photo album, opened it to where Vicchan was staring back, and tore some of the pages. Viktor nearly burned with anger and jumped out to stop the other man, but he didn’t. If this plan was going to work, he needed to stay hidden, even if it pained him to see what the monster was doing.

By the time JJ had ransacked seven rooms, the sun was beginning to rise outside. JJ was growing increasingly more agitated. The guards were beginning to change shift with the day guards.

That was when JJ seemed to decide it was better to leave, before he was caught destroying rooms. He went to leave via the back door attached to the kitchen.

He opened the door, allowing the early morning light to cascade into the dimly lit room. The rays bounced off of the silver surface of the kitchen equipment, almost blinding Viktor.

It was just as Viktor thought JJ was going to step out of the door that he knew things went wrong. Something happened that he hadn’t expected. Something that he hadn’t planned for.

JJ closed the door and turned to face Viktor.

He didn’t seem surprised. In fact, he smiled as if he had known Viktor was right behind him. Viktor felt a shudder running through his body.

“I’m sorry, did I make a mess?” he asked.

Viktor didn’t like the way he asked it. His tone was mischievous, confident, everything JJ hadn’t been just moments before during his searching. He wanted to take a step back, but pride won over. He would not let JJ know he had unsettled him. He was professional. He was better than the young thief, despite how well JJ was proving that he had grown from what Viktor had once thought he was.

“I just got so angry, Viktor, that you were going to try and blame all of this on me.”

Another chill ran up his spine. “I wasn’t going to blame anything on you, JJ,” he lied, trying to work out how the other man had possibly figured anything out.

“Then what about the traps you’ve caught my thieves in? Or the ones that are still open somewhere?” JJ’s smile slipped until he was almost frowning, eyes staring hard at Viktor. He placed his hands in his pockets. “What about the rumours you’ve been spreading?”

“I haven’t spread any.”

“I know you have.”

“Do you have any proof?”

JJ faltered. “No, but no one else would be doing it. You’re trying to catch me out. But I’m not like the other thieves you’ve bested. I’m not so easily walked over.” A hint of something like anger slipped into his voice. “I come from a small group. Our name isn’t even nearly as well-known as yours – but don’t you dare underestimate me because of it. You’re trying to set a trap, Viktor, and I already know it. I’ve avoided it.”

“Then why didn’t you just leave?” Viktor asked. “If I had set up a trap and you saw through it, why don’t you just go? Because you want me to know that you saw it?” Viktor sighed and leaned against the frame of the kitchen threshold. “Do you want my attention that desperately?”

It wasn’t the right thing to say. JJ’s face almost burned with rage, but he didn’t shout anything as Viktor was expecting him to. Instead, he took a deep breath and calmed himself down. “I don’t want anything from you. I had hoped at the start of this job that I could make you slip, but I come here to see you slipping already. You’re distracted. I wasn’t the one to do that. Do you know how much that annoys me?”

“It’s not my job to satisfy your jealousy.”

“It’s not your job to have sex with the target either, but you seem to be doing just fine with that.” JJ’s grin grew slowly and it unsettled Viktor. “So, satisfy this for me, Viktor. Satisfy my need to ruin your legacy. When I’m able to overcome you, I’ll be the number one thief. My company will be the best one in the country. I’ll marry Bella.”

“You’re going to have to do a lot more than this to get me.”

It seemed to be what JJ was waiting for, because his grin grew ten-fold, until his face was almost splitting with a smile that froze Viktor’s blood. He opened the vest of his suit and rummaged into the inside pocket, bringing out something that sparkled in the low sunlight.

“Oh, you mean like this?” he asked, holding it up for Viktor to see.

Viktor’s heart lodged itself in his throat. Hanging from JJ’s grip was the treasured collar, stones sparkling, sending shimmers against the wall. One large white stone was sat safely in the middle of them all, somehow shining brighter than any others, catching the light in a way that seemed to drown in it. It scattered rainbows through the air.

“When did you get that?” Viktor asked, because he couldn’t understand it. He’d been following JJ since he had entered the house, and yet he had not seen him get anywhere close to the pantry – even if Yuuri had moved it, he never saw JJ find it. Was JJ that quick? Had he distracted Viktor somehow? Viktor blinked, wondering if he had been tricked somehow. His eyes glanced to the pantry. From this angle, he couldn’t see if the brick had been removed.

JJ glanced towards it too, following Viktor’s eyeline.  “You didn’t see me get it? Viktor, Viktor, Viktor.” He took the collar back and stroked his fingers against the surface. “What has happened to you?”

“Where did you get it?”

JJ tilted his head to the side, bringing up the collar close to his face to view. “It wasn’t even that hard to find. I left something there for Yuuri too. I hope he likes it.”

“You… left something?”

“Yep. He’s caused some trouble for me, so I left him something to cause trouble for him too.” JJ’s eyes met Viktor’s. “We’ve been trained to sustain some poisons, but I wonder how Yuuri would cope?”

Viktor was moving before he could figure out what he was doing. He was in the pantry in only seconds, tearing the brick from the wall with the tips of his fingers. It scratched his skin and he was sure they’d end up bleeding, but he ignored the pain.

He reached into the passage when it was finally opened, spurred on by JJ’s shadow being cast along the pantry floor. He waited in the doorway, spinning the collar in his hand.

He waited for a sharp prick to his finger, or even something to drip down onto his hand. Something poisonous, maybe even a scorpion, or gas to escape the chamber. But nothing happened. He continued to reach in until he found something.

He did find something. He felt cold metal and uneven surfaces on his fingers, so he grabbed it and pulled it out. He didn’t know what he was going to find, but he certainly wasn’t expecting the collar.

“Oh, would you look at that,” JJ chuckled from the doorway. “There are two.”

In Viktor’s hands was the collar, bright and casting rainbows, sparkling like a thousand stars in the night sky. He glanced at the one in JJ’s hands, feeling the cold fingers of realisation beginning to crawl over his body. JJ threw the collar up in the air and caught it again, showing how light it was, while the one in Viktor’s hand felt heavier.

“So, that’s where it was,” JJ continued. “Fair play to Yuuri, he hid it very well. I wouldn’t have thought to look there.” He began to move forward, placing the fake collar back into his coat pocket.

Viktor, knowing he couldn’t simply just put it back where it had been hidden, raced passed the younger man. His mind was a mess of thoughts, wondering how he was going to protect it now, how he was going to tell Yuuri that he needed to find a new hiding spot, how he had known in the first place.

Before he had time to think about his next move, however, something horrible happened. Something moved in the corner of his eye. His eyes snapped to the kitchen doorway.

A few people stood there. The first three were the kitchen staff, donned in their uniform ready to begin cooking for a new day. They stood frozen in the doorway, eyes glancing between Viktor and JJ, to where the collar was held in Viktor’s hand.

Another was a butler, no doubt gathering paper work and getting his job ready for the rest of the staff that would be coming in for the morning. One was a guard, stood in the doorway with his gun held at his side, too shocked to do anything.

Then there was Yuuri’s mother, stood just behind the kitchen staff, peeking over their shoulder, distraught pulled on her face.

But the most devastating was Yuuri, stood at the front, still half dressed in his pyjamas, hair a mess and glasses askew, as if he had just woken up. His eyes flickered from the collar to meet with Viktor’s. His mouth was slightly agape, face pulled down as if the weight of his realisation was dragging his expression, eyes wide and filling with unshed tears.

His chest was fluttering, as if he couldn’t quite draw breath. His knees looked weak, as if he was going to collapse at any moment. Face paled. Not speaking. Chin wobbling, cheeks fluttering. Heart breaking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. What can I say? I did warn people??? haha   
> I've had this part planned... probably since the start of the story. I hope I wrote it alright?   
> Yeah this is where the true angst comes into it. Next we have Yuuri's POV and I wonder how he's going to feel? 7  
> Thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> You can find my tumblr   
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	16. No Excuses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by cosmic whynikkywhy

He guessed he should have expected it, really. Call him an idiot, but he didn’t really think it would actually happen. Viktor had been so… different. He never asked, not once. He never pushed. Never even mentioned it.

It was only expected that Yuuri began to believe the lies Viktor gave him. He was blinded. He was stupid.

Now Viktor stood before him, collar in firm grip, JJ stood before him, like they were conspiring. There was another collar in the young man’s hand, but Yuuri could tell by now which was the real one. JJ’s wasn’t nearly as sparkling, as bright, as perfect. They’d been planning to switch it. It would never work. Yuuri had spent hours staring at the collar, hours feeling its surface with his finger tips, hours clipping it onto his dog before Vicchan died.

That couldn’t fool him. Apparently, Viktor’s pretty words could.

He wanted to scream at the other man, to demand a thousand answers to the questions that had been plaguing his mind, but as he opened his mouth, all he could ask was, “Viktor?” His voice broke halfway. It made himself flinch. He sounded so pathetic.

The name seemed to break the silence though. JJ moved, his footsteps so quiet even on the tiled floor, even with his heavy shoes. Viktor opened his mouth to say something but couldn’t seem to say the words, his eyes boring into Yuuri. The guards behind him began to ready their guns.

Yuuri held out his hand, stopping them before they could shoot. He was being stupid, he knew. He should let them shoot holes into the men’s bodies, or at least injure them so that their steps wouldn’t be nearly as silent, or until they couldn’t sneak away. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t bring himself to let anything happen to Viktor. Despite everything, despite the storm that was slowly rising inside of himself, he couldn’t do it.

“Yuuri-” his mother began, but she stopped, unsure what to say.

Too many words. Too many emotions. Too much time. Too many people.

Everything was getting to him and it was beginning to make him feel sick. He glanced down to the collar in Viktor’s grip again, and the man was trying to pull it away as if he was trying to shield it from his gaze. That made Yuuri closer to exploding with rage than drowning in the tears he could feel pressing at the back of his eyes.

“So,” he began, voice slow and unsure, “this is what you were really after. This whole time? All of it?”

Viktor was about to reply, but JJ got there first. He took a step backwards, reaching the back door, tucking the fake collar into his pocket. “I did try to tell you, Yuuri. It’s what he was here for. All of those things he said-”

Before he could stop himself, Yuuri grabbed a gun from the grip of one of the guards and aimed it for JJ. He wasn’t an amateur, having practiced a little with the weapon in his training sessions. However, he wasn’t a master of it either. He could assemble and clean it, shoot it, everything but actually aim it. But JJ didn’t know that. “Shut up. I’ve heard enough from you.”

JJ held his hands up. “ _I’m_ not the one that has it though. If you’re going to shoot anyone, shoot Viktor.”

Yuuri turned the sight on Viktor. Every fibre in his body told him to stop, to drop the gun and not let anything happen to the man that was staring back. Viktor’s eyes seemed to almost burn red, water slowly filling it. Yuuri could see terror and pleading in his gaze, but he ignored it. Every single word he had spoken had been a lie. This was a lie too. It was all just lies. Everything. _Everything._

“Get out,” he choked out, throat burning from the effort. He tried his best to make sure his voice didn’t crack, but it staggered as it came out. Viktor made to say something else, but Yuuri didn’t want to hear it. He raised the gun a little more, drawing attention to it. “Get out, Viktor.”

If he treated the situation as he wanted to, as he could, he’d tear the collar from the man’s hands and kick him out himself. He’d tear the pride from Viktor. He’d walk away without any concern and be able to move on.

But it wasn’t like that. He had so many things to tell Viktor, like how he didn’t ever want to see him again, or he wanted Viktor to beg for his life, or just something else. But nothing else could leave his mouth. His hands were shaking, and he was sure a tear managed to escape his eyes. He wanted Viktor out, gone, torn from his life. But he wouldn’t move. He was still there, standing where he had been found, gaping like a fish.

“Get out!” Yuuri shouted as loudly as he could around the lump in his throat. It made everyone in the room jump, Viktor included. When the man still didn’t move, Yuuri shot the wall beside him. His mother shouted his name and the staff behind him screamed.

JJ was the first to move. He grabbed Viktor by the arm and dragged him to the door, Viktor too surprised to fight back. Yuuri descended the kitchen steps, gun still in hand, eyes glued to the collar. He was about to demand it back, but the words wouldn’t slip out.

JJ crashed open the door, opening to the dusk, pulling Viktor behind him. They disappeared around the corner while Yuuri chased. It was only a second, only even a fraction of a second that they were out of his line of sight. But when he reached the back door and looked around, he saw nothing. They were gone.

Behind him, his mother began to notify the guards of the situation, demanding them to act quickly.

Yuuri knew it wouldn’t do anything, however. Thieves, once they disappeared, were gone forever. It was a well-known, unwritten, thing. Thieves were capable of anything, and hiding was one of those things.

Yuuri stared out into the emptiness, listening as the clatter of the guards filled the morning air. His chest pulled tightly, gun dropped to his side, tears flowing freely from his eyes. Someone was gently prying the gun from his hands. His mother came into his vision, blocking the world outside from view.

“Let’s go have breakfast, Yuuri. It’s going to be okay. It’s all going to be okay.”

***

Somehow, the news broke out before the household could stop it. By the time lunch time rolled around, Phichit was banging on the door, demanding entry. Yuuko was comforting him, rubbing his back as Yuuri was caught between sobbing and wanting to throw things at the wall.

She whispered a few encouraging words, but Yuuri couldn’t hear it. Viktor’s promises deafened him to the world, replaying in his mind until his teeth were grinding together out of frustration. He didn’t hear Phichit knocking on the door, not even as he almost battered it down from the force, or the way he cried out Yuuri’s name. Yuuri didn’t notice until Phichit barrelled in, slamming the door behind him.

Phichit was about to say something before he noticed Yuuri’s face. His expression crumpled and he rushed over to Yuuri’s other side, throwing his arms around Yuuri’s shoulders and pulling him in for a hug.

“Oh, Yuuri,” he said, his own voice cracking, sounding like Yuuri felt. “I’m so sorry.”

Yuuri hugged him back. “You don’t need to be sorry for anything.”

“I should have looked faster. I should have done it before you even asked. I should have…” Phichit faded out, unsure of what else to say. He coughed and said, “I should have just done more. I should have looked into him as soon as he came into the scene, before he got the chance to get his claws into you.”

Yuuri wasn’t sure what to do to that. It almost tugged on his chest, making him sob harder, but it also almost pulled a smile from his wet lips. He decided to just bury himself further in Phichit’s shoulder. “I should have asked you sooner.”

“You didn’t have to do anything, Yuuri,” Yuuko assured gently, running her fingers through his hair. “Absolutely none of this is your fault.”

But he felt like it was. He should have seen it coming before it happened. Just because Viktor wasn’t asking about the treasure didn’t mean he wasn’t guilty. Yuuri should have noticed the way he walked silently early. He should have asked more questions. But he’d been blinded. Viktor had seen his barriers and he’d slipped in. Yuuri wanted to describe it as a disease, Viktor coming in and infecting him, but he couldn’t. Through everything, he still couldn’t think of Viktor as anything like it.

“Did you find anything out about him?” he asked. He felt Phichit stiffen beside him. Not good news. He pulled back.

“All too late,” Phichit whispered. “It’s not going to do any good now.”

“What did you find out?”

“Well, he’s… he’s a thief,” Phichit stumbled over, trying to phrase it gently. “It was hard to find that out. He works for a company made of five people, including him.”

Five people. A father-figure, two brothers and one sister. A family. Yuuri swallowed down the lump in his throat. Viktor had told him his company had been a family.

“Viktor has, uh, quite the jobs under his belt. From the ones I was able to connect to him, though there was very little evidence, he’s very good at his work.”

Yuuri swallowed back bitterness. “And has he ever seduced any of the others hiding things? Did he make them fall in love with him too?”

Phichit shook his head. “From what I’ve found out, you’re the only one. He never showed himself to others. He was in and out without anyone figuring out he was ever there.”

Yuuri hated that it gave him some sort of hope. He killed it before it could rise. “So, he changed his tactics or something. Maybe he was getting bored.”

“Oh, Yuuri, I’m sure it was more than that,” Phichit assured, though he didn’t know what else to say afterwards.

“What else did you find out?” Yuuri asked. “What about JJ? And Guang Hong? Or Isabella?”

“All… All thieves. JJ and Viktor are from different companies, JJ’s being quite a small one. They’re not quite rivals, but JJ’s company see themselves as that. Isabella and Guang Hong are from the same company, though JJ’s parents are the ones that run it.”

Yuuri could almost laugh at the information. Viktor had told him everything to his face and he just didn’t know enough to see through it all. Viktor, so careful with his words, had told the truth right from the start. Yuuri supposed he couldn’t fault the man for that – he’d never lied. That was different from his last relationship.

Unless telling Yuuri that he loved him was a lie. Then it was very similar. Except, instead of taking his dog from him, this time it was the dog collar. A sob wracked through him at the thought. Phichit held him tighter, Yuuko bending in to cover his back. Together, they formed a barrier around Yuuri while he cried the emotions out.

***

He was tempted to turn his phone on to see if Viktor had sent him anything. But he didn’t. He turned it off as soon as he saw the messages coming in from other families after the news broke out.

Or, more aptly explained, his sister had turned it off. The house phones had been ringing none stop, families suddenly expressing feigned concern to figure out more of what was going on, wanting to be the first to gossip about it at parties. The phones were turned off.

Yuuri didn’t turn his back on. The important people to him were already in the house. There was no one outside that he wanted to contact.

He did wonder if Viktor had sent anything. Even if it was just a teasing photo of what he had managed to steal, or a message of being blocked. Something. Or perhaps Viktor wouldn’t do anything now. He’d gotten what he’d come for, and perhaps this was where all of their connection ended. This, with this lingering memory, the end. It was enough for Yuuri to not consider turning his phone on.

The house was subdued for the rest of the day. Yuuri stayed confined to his room, accompanied by Yuuko and Phichit, occasionally checked on by his family.

No one spoke about what to do now. No one asked if he wanted it back, or if he wanted to leave it as it was. Perhaps they knew he didn’t have an answer to it. Perhaps they didn’t want to put that pressure on him. Or perhaps they knew already that there was nothing that they could do.

Phichit didn’t say it in so many words, but Yuuri could read between the lines – the company Viktor was with, they were very good. He doubted anything they stole ever found their ways back to the owners. They were stolen and sold on, through the black market or directly to buyers. Either way, Yuuri doubted he’d ever see it again.

It was as the darkness began to descend that he felt truly horrible. The layer of sadness inside of himself made way for another, and another and another until he could feel himself drowning in his emotions. In between his body being wracked with tears or anger, he was almost emotionless on the outside.

Phichit and Yuuko slept with him. While he had difficulty falling asleep, they tried their best to stay awake with him. But they couldn’t. They snored lightly beside him, hugging closely to him, and he stayed staring at the ceiling.

***

A thousand thoughts filled his mind the next morning. Twenty-four hours. It had been a full day since he had seen what Viktor really was. They felt like both the shortest and longest hours he had ever gone through.

He wanted to call Viktor up a million times and say just as many things to him. He wanted to tell him that he hoped he felt guilty, that every face he saw from now on would be Yuuri’s, that his heart would hammer in his chest every time he took a job or every time a dog was close. He hoped that the man would have difficult selling it on, with numerous failed attempts behind him. He hoped he had a hard time.

But he didn’t do anything. Viktor hadn’t contacted him, not in any way. Yuuri thought it was for the best, though he had some sort of hope that the other man would try, at least a little.  

He shook his head, rubbing his temples. He knew he needed to stop thinking about the thief. It was beginning to consume his life. Even that morning, as he tried to eat breakfast with his family, Viktor wouldn’t leave his mind.

But he supposed that this came with a broken heart. Every interaction, played over a thousand times in his head until everything seemed too movie-like, too rosy, too tainted. A chest that ached so deeply that he felt like he couldn’t breathe. Every word seemingly too much of a goodbye to be anything else.

He had heard the staff talking about some of the calls that had come through since the news had broken out. Most families had expressed fake concern, while others had asked outright what had happened. The rumours were spreading like wildfire once again. Some had even come knocking on the doors.

After breakfast, he took himself off to his room again and curled up in his bed, unsure of what to do anymore. Spending his time going to the library, or walking the town with Yuuko and Phichit, or even walking around the grounds, it all felt like a lifetime away now, as if it wasn’t him.

Now it all felt like Viktor’s domain, where thieves walked without being noticed, where someone like JJ would jump from the shadows and rob something else important.

He must have fallen asleep, because when he turned to look at the window, he saw that it was getting dark again. That was the first thing he noticed. The second was that he heard shouting and arguing downstairs. It was muffled, but it rose every now and then until he thought he could only just make out words.

Sometimes, if his sister was in the wrong mood, she could start arguments with people, sometimes even their parents. And though Yuuri could hear her voice in the fray, this argument sounded much more sinister, angrier.

He slowly stood from his bed, creeping to the door. As he opened it, the voices became clearer. A few were the staff he recognised, Phichit somewhere in the middle of it. At first, he wondered if his sister and best friend had begun a fight, though it was very out of character for them to do it. He listened a little more and noticed that instead, they seemed to be on the same side while they argued with someone else.

There were a few more voices, a few he recognised as guards. One was his father, he thought.

The more he listened, the more voices he heard. It almost seemed as if the entire household was in the front lobby, raising their voices until they could almost shake the chandelier with the force. Every single one, he recognised – at least he thought that, up until he heard one smaller voice, shouting beneath the rest, less force to their volume. That voice he did not recognise.

Too curious to leave it, he began to shuffle his way to the grand staircase, listening to each raised voice. He couldn’t make out the words.

He stepped carefully as he descended the steps, placing his bare-feet securely on the plush carpet before he took another step. Through the bars, he could begin to see the turmoil that was taking over the lobby.

There were dozens of people gathered around the door, though the door itself was closed. There was a slight draft, so Yuuri suspected it hadn’t been closed for long. Someone was leaning against the door, pressing themselves as if they wanted nothing more than to be able to phase through it. From this distance, Yuuri couldn’t figure out who it was. But he noticed the way all the staff were surrounding the person, his sister at the forefront, Phichit beside her.

They were almost threatening in their stance, taking storming steps forwards as they shouted at the person. The person was trying to speak back, but even Yuuri could hear the hesitation.

He crept further down the steps, hoping for a better look. At that moment, the guards rushed forwards and detained the person pressed to the doorway. They started shouting at the top of their lungs, begging to be let go.

“Let me see him!” they were shouting, trying their best to break free. At first, Yuuri thought they weren’t doing a very good job. But as he got closer, he noticed the practiced way the person was breaking the hold of the guards. “I need to see him. I need to see Yuuri.”

No one had noticed him descending the steps yet, but he was getting closer. His gaze was glued to the person, noticing the way they were moving almost soundlessly. Yuuri’s suspicions sparked immediately. Viktor was back. Viktor was desperate to see him again. It must be. His heart soared but he pushed it down, ready to shout at Viktor with all of the frustration he had felt over the last few weeks.

But it wasn’t Viktor. As Viktor got closer, he noticed this thief was shorter. With darker hair than Viktor, a skinnier body, different features.

“Guang Hong?” he asked, breaking the shouting in the middle of the lobby. They all turned towards him, frozen by the sound of his voice.

“Oh, Yuuri,” Yuuko greeted. “We’re sorry for waking you.”

“Go back to bed, Yuuri,” his sister said, stepping closer to where Guang Hong was being detained. “We can handle this.”

“What is he doing here?” Yuuri asked.

As if his question had broken the younger thief out of whatever stupor he had been in, he began to thrash against their hold again, breaking free easily as if they were barely anything. “I need to speak to you.”

“To me?” Yuuri asked, feeling the numbness beginning to settle in again. This man was a thief, just like Viktor, here only because he wanted to get the collar before anyone else. “Viktor took the collar. Go after him if you want it. You don’t have any reason to bother me anymore.”

Guang Hong’s expression broke for a second, the desperation turned to pain. But only for a second before he was rushing through the fray to get to the bottom of the steps. Hands shot out to grab him before he could, but he avoided them all perfectly, without even taking his eyes from Yuuri. “I’m not here for that. I was never here for that!”

“Then what were you here for?”

The young man reached the bottom of the steps, and once he was there, he seemed a little lost, unsure on what he should do next. He didn’t take a step up. “JJ – he…”

“What? Did he threaten you?”

“N-No, not as much as that. But Yuuri, you have to understand – to us thieves, our families mean everything. _Everything_.”

Yuuri sighed and rubbed his temple, feeling a headache beginning to come on. This wasn’t what he wanted to talk about. He’d spent days avoiding any talk about thieves and families and what was taken from him. As much as he couldn’t, he had tried avoiding the thoughts too, though those seemed to creep up without any warning or stopping. “Great. Okay. That’s brilliant.”

As someone tried to grab him again, Guang Hong jumped onto the right bannister of the steps and scaled it until he was almost sat beside Yuuri. “No, no, I mean, a lot of things happen because of it. So many things are overlooked because of our thieving families, so much has to be done.” He furrowed his brow in frustration and said, “I’m not explaining it. It’s like, most of us aren’t actually family. We’re raised in these thieving groups from _nothing_. We owe them. I owe JJ and his family so much. I… I owe them my life. And JJ knows that. He uses that.”

As the guards began to ascend the steps, Yuuri held out his hand, stopping them. “What does this have to do with anything?”

“I’m getting there,” Guang Hong replied, knowing that his time was limited. “I mean, I did things I didn’t want to do because JJ wanted me to. I had to do it, because my family asked, because I owed them. I didn’t want to do any of this. I didn’t… I didn’t mean to follow you, or break into your house, or stab your sister-”

“Wait, what?”

“Or interrupt your meeting with your dad, or cause you so much trouble. JJ needed me to do it. I’m not placing blame on him – far from it. I know it was my fault too. I didn’t have to listen to him. But Yuuri, thief families mean everything to each other.” He almost seemed to want to grab Yuuri and shake him into understanding, his intense gaze boring into Yuuri. “It’s the same for Viktor. So many things he did, he didn’t want to do. He had to. He had to because his family told him to.”

Yuuri felt a lump in his throat lodge itself, making it hard to swallow. It was beginning to get harder to ignore. “So, he was told to get close to me? Told to make me fall in love?”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant.” His voice broke from his desperation. “It’s the opposite. He never does his jobs like that. He breaks in, takes what he needs and then leaves. He never makes contact with the owners. Never. Not until you, Yuuri.”

Yuuri have him a sad smile, feeling the tears beginning to fill his eyes. “And that’s meant to make me feel better? So he changed tactics. He still stole what was important to me in the end.”

“But he didn’t want to,” Guang Hong almost shouted. “He wasn’t going to. He told JJ he was going to protect it. He didn’t plan on taking it.”

“But he did.”

“But he didn’t! JJ tricked him. JJ didn’t know where it was, but he knew Viktor did. He tricked him into finding it. He was going to take it from Viktor and frame it on him. You came down at the wrong time.”

“JJ tricked him?”

“He had a fake one. He pretended he stole it, and he pretended to leave some trap in the hiding place that might hurt you. Viktor had to check. He accidentally showed JJ where it was.” The words came out in a rush, spilling from his mouth until he was stumbling over the words in his effort to explain. “JJ was talking about it. He was bragging about it at home and I’m really sorry, Yuuri. I know he can be a lot to handle but he’s not a bad person. He’s just doing what he’s been brought up to do.”

Yuuri didn’t know what to say. He swallowed down his anxiety, glancing to where the rest stood in the lobby. His sister was still halfway stepping on the steps, as if ready for the moment that Yuuri needed her. His parents seemed close to follow, Phichit already with his phone out ready to call for his informants, to put the feelers out ready for if Guang Hong ran off.

“He used me,” Yuuri whispered, turning back to the young thief. “He had a grudge against Viktor, and he used something that was precious to me to get back at him. How is that not a bad person?”

Resigned to the fact that Yuuri wasn’t going to listen to that, Guang Hong changed tactics. “Viktor isn’t a bad person either. Believe me, he didn’t want to do it. He told JJ he was going to protect the collar. He was tricked. I heard he created tensions in his family because he was refusing to do what his boss wanted him to do. He’s never refused to do a job before.”

It was as if Guang Hong was telling him everything he had wished to hear in the last few days he’d been sad. Every dream, every hope, everything he ever wanted Viktor to tell him, it was as if it was all becoming real. It sparked something inside of himself, and he wanted desperately to believe in it. But he remembered how he felt that morning, seeing Viktor with the collar in his hand.

It was true that JJ had had one too, but that proved nothing. “JJ had a fake one. You said it was so that he could trick Viktor. I saw the fake one. But I thought they were working together and they were going to replace it.”

Guang Hong shook his head. “N-No. No, they weren’t working together at all. JJ hated Viktor, and Viktor didn’t think JJ was worthy of being thought of, let alone to work with.”

“Why do you want to tell me this, anyway?” Yuuri asked. “If you work for JJ, what’s the point in getting me to believe Viktor didn’t want to do it?” Yuuri paused, his hands gripping tightly into fists. “What part of the plan is this part?”

“It’s not a part of any plan. I just think things have gone too far. JJ’s going to try and take the collar from Viktor, and Viktor’s so down about it he’ll probably fight back. It’s going to cause strife between the families, and I don’t know how it’s going to end-”

“What reason does Viktor have to be down?” Yuuri could almost laugh. He was the one that had trusted, had his heart broken, felt like the world was collapsing into itself again. Viktor had gotten away with what he wanted.

“Because he didn’t want to hurt you.”

Yuuri’s first thought was that Guang Hong must have been delusional. If Viktor didn’t want to hurt him, then he shouldn’t have done this in the first place. But something had him pausing. Perhaps it was the reminder of Viktor’s distraught face as he saw Yuuri that morning, or the way he didn’t leave until Yuuri practically pointed a gun at him. Or all the words they’d exchanged in the months before that morning, the love they had spoken about, the tender kisses and the gentle touches, the nights spent, the way Viktor had spoken to his parents.

There were a lot of things that had Yuuri’s chest aching again, believing that perhaps his heart needn’t have been broken at all.

“Then,” Yuuri whispered slowly, looking anywhere but at the people who were looking at him, “if he didn’t want to hurt me, why isn’t he here? Why isn’t he explaining this himself?”

Guang Hong paused, shocked by Yuuri’s question. It took a minute for him to finally reply, saying, “Because he doesn’t think you’ll ever forgive him.”

Yuuri didn’t know why, but that made him angry. He turned back around, ready to take the steps back up to his room, but not before he fixed Guang Hong with a solid stare and said, “It’s not his right to assume that. He doesn’t get to mope around. He should be here, on his knees, explaining everything from his own mouth and then wait for how I feel.” Yuuri turned away and felt the energy draining from himself with every step he took. He wanted to sleep again. He needed to be somewhere quiet, where he couldn’t hear everyone else’s thoughts. “You tell him that. Tell him that if he wants any small chance of being forgiven, he needs to come here and beg for it. No excuses.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To sum up the responce from last chapter - "Fuck you, JJ." XD Which, basically, was the whole point of it... I mean don't get me wrong, I don't hate JJ from the anime, but... every story needs a villain, and he has been selected ;) 
> 
> Thank you all so much for the responces, it really drove me to finish writing this chapter too! I hope you like it, and sorry for all the.... well, the angst, the pain, the hurt, the paranoia. All of it! Ish. Sorry-ish. 
> 
> You can find me on tumblr   
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	17. Guards Swarmed Him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by the fantabulous whynikkiwhy

Viktor never imagined feeling this empty after finishing a job. He expected to feel satisfied, complete, ready to move onto another job. This had been a hard one, but he’d done it. He’d achieved it.

And it only made him hate himself.

In the dark of the night, he sat on his sofa, Makkachin resting on his lap. The lights were switched off, his apartment almost in complete darkness had it not been for the moonlight cast in through the wide windows. He didn’t know how long he’d been awake, but he knew he should probably try to sleep. His nights had been haunted by nightmares and crushing guilt since he had come back from Yuuri’s house.

Yuuri had turned a gun on him. Viktor knew Yuuri well enough to know that he’d never have actually shot, but that didn’t matter. Yuuri shouldn’t have been put in that difficult situation. And it was Viktor’s fault. Who knew what was going through Yuuri’s head at that moment. Most likely guilt too, perhaps stronger than what Viktor was feeling now.

Sighing for what seemed like the millionth time in the last hour, he held the collar up to the light of the moon, gaze scanning over it. He knew he should be eyeing it as if it was the most precious thing in the word, thinking of all the money it would be bringing in, thinking of how long it had taken for him to get it, but he couldn’t. It was just something dull and useless now that he had taken it from the person he loved.

Its shine didn’t compare to the sparkles in Yuuri’s eyes. Its worth didn’t compare to the time he had spent with Yuuri. Its beauty didn’t compare to how Yuuri sounded when he told Viktor he loved him.

He couldn’t bring himself to give it to Yakov, even knowing that JJ would soon try to swoop on him to get it back. Yakov must have understood he needed time, because he didn’t ask for it.

There was a faint knock on the door. “Come in,” he called. “It’s unlocked.”

He knew who it was even before he turned to look. Chris always had the same footsteps, the same careful walking across the carpet as he had had the first time they met.

“You know,” Chris said as he closed the door. “You shouldn’t be leaving your apartment door open. What if you fell asleep and someone worse than me could sneak in?”

“They’d need to get into the building to do that first, and we have some of the best security around.”

Chris sat in the chair beside his sofa, eyes glancing between Viktor’s expression and the collar he still held up to the light. “Is that it?”

“Yes,” Viktor replied. “This is what I ruined a good thing for. Doesn’t seem quite as brilliant anymore, does it?”

“It’s beautiful,” Chris whispered.

“Isn’t it?”

“What are you going to do with it?”

Viktor had been thinking of that question a lot since he had left Yuuri’s mansion. “Ideally,” he answered, “I’d give it back to Yuuri and he’d forgive me.”

“And realistically?” Chris pushed.

“Realistically, I’ll probably keep it. I can’t stand the thought of Yakov selling it to someone who could never understand how much it means.”

Chris hesitated for a moment before he leaned forwards, resting his elbows against his knees. “I’m not sure Yakov would appreciate that. Or JJ for that matter.”

Viktor gritted his teeth, dropping his hand until it lay limp beside him on the sofa, collar still barely in his grip. “They have no say in this matter. They didn’t lose as much as I have.”

“I know, Viktor. I know.” Chris paused again and moved to sit in the empty space beside Viktor on the sofa. “How are you?”

“I feel like I’m drowning,” Viktor admitted. “Every hour or so, I wonder how my heart is still beating. I wonder if I’m just dreaming. But the pain is still so raw and suffocating that I know it all happened. I can’t think. I can’t sleep. Even food tastes like remorse.” Viktor gave a humourless laugh, leaning his head back against the sofa. “I thought it was stupid that people could die from heart-break. In films, series, books, they were all _so_ dramatic. With time, things die down. I might even end up forgetting what Yuuri looks like, when I’m old. I’ll forget what he sounds like, what words he told me. I’ll forget what actually happened and what was just my imagination. I’ll probably even lose the collar somewhere and never get it back again.” He felt tears beginning to press to the back of his eyes, but he wouldn’t let them fall. He felt that he wasn’t entitled them. Somewhere, most likely in his room, Yuuri was crying. Viktor didn’t deserve to feel the same. “But right now, it all hurts so much that I can’t ever see myself happy again.”

Chris took the collar from his hold and threw it to the other side of the sofa before he circled his arms around Viktor, pulling him into a hug. “Why don’t you go and explain everything to him, Viktor? Give it some time. Let him grieve. Let him calm down. Then go and explain everything.”

“You didn’t see his face, Chris. He’ll never forgive me. I’ve done the worst thing I could to him.”

“Don’t say that. I’m sure there are worse things you could have done.”

“Like what?”

“Well, murdering his family for one,” Chris said, hoping to lighten the mood. But it didn’t. He coughed and continued, “It’s just a possession, Viktor. This might not make a lot of sense to you, with what your job is and how you’ve dedicated your life to such possessions, but to the normal person, things lose their meaning. As important as it is to Yuuri, it is just an object. Some day, he’ll see that. Explain now, apologise, and it might take a while, but he will forgive you.”

“But it’s so important to him. It’s his dog’s.”

“All the more reason to see it as just an object. Something like this, it’s not going to replace the memories he has of his dog. Those are far more important. And his memories of you are important too. If you leave it for him to come to you, or wait years to explain, his distrust of you is going to fester and he’s going to overthink and nothing will be fixed. Go to him, explain, beg, do whatever you need to do. If he doesn’t forgive you, then leave it there. It will take a long time, but when the pain has faded, he’ll see it, Viktor. He’ll think about how you faced him when no one else would, even as scared as you are right now. He’ll spend years thinking about it. And then one day, you might get a call to start this whole thing again.”

Viktor knew there was sense in those words, but it wasn’t connecting. He doubted Yuuri could ever forgive him. Chris didn’t know how important the collar was to Yuuri. But Viktor had spent hours upon hours thinking of ways he could beg Yuuri for forgiveness, how he’d explain it, how he’d apologise.

He knew some of this guilt destroying him was because he hadn’t once told the man he loved that he was sorry for what he did.

Yuuri deserved an apology. Yuuri deserved a lot more than that too, but at the moment, Viktor knew that that was all he could give and then let Yuuri do with that what he wanted. But he was scared. He didn’t want to face Yuuri again, not like this, not that now the other person knew what kind of man he was.

“Before any of that,” Viktor said, “I need to stop JJ from trying anything.”

***

The best way he knew how to do that was visiting JJ. He knew it was forbidden for a thief to visit the headquarters of another thieving family – made mainly so that no family feuds started – but he knew there was no other way around it. If he organised a place to meet JJ, odds are the young thief would find another way to trick him. If he jumped on him while he was out, Viktor knew JJ would use it as means to start a feud or twist the truth.

Walking into his home seemed to be the only thing he could do. He would be weak, so they could not accuse him of taking advantage. He would drop in unannounced, so they could not make a plan. Everything could go wrong, but he’d do it anyway.

He could hear it the moment they noticed him. He hadn’t even turned the corner yet, hadn’t left the cover of the trees to the Leroy estate when the alarm was raised. It sang shrill over the dark sky, echoing over the horizon. Viktor could hear the sound of the guards beginning to gather. JJ didn’t have many – not many thieving families did. As thieves, they knew how easy it was to overcome guards and sneak in without a trace. Guards were, unfortunately, pretty useless. People like the Leroys still had them only for show or to be rid of the smaller threats, such as too many curious police officers.

Viktor suppressed the need to hide and walked around the corner, faced with the massive Leroy house. It was quite different to the apartment his own family owned – the Leroys loved their grandeur, with a massive separate house, clad in elegance and money. With rich, royal architecture and pillars standing thick outside the mahogany front doors, they certainly weren’t subtle.

Guards rushed forwards to meet him, holding their weapons out. He continued. He could see the servants beginning to rush in to warm the family. Viktor stormed on.

No doubt JJ would assume he would leave the collar back at home. Viktor expected to go back to his apartment to find it broken into, everything overturned, drawers searched through. They wouldn’t find anything. Perhaps then they would send word back here and assume he had brought it with him. They’d search him. They wouldn’t find anything again either. Then they’d assume he had given it to Yakov, and would follow him all day, waiting for a weak moment. Yakov never had weak moments. No matter, it would not help. Yakov didn’t have it.

To protect it, Viktor had given it to little Yuri, the boy they least expected, the boy that was still going through some of his thieving training, the boy that only focused on fashion as worthy of stealing. Certainly not a dog collar.

“Why the fuck are you giving this to me?” Yuri had asked, sneering up at Viktor very early that morning. “I don’t want it. I’m just going to throw it in my room anyway until you come back.”

“And I don’t care what you do with it, as long as you give it back intact, as it is right now, with all the same stones and the same collar, when I ask for it back,” Viktor had replied.

Yuri had groaned and almost wanted to slap Viktor out of frustration, but he had taken the collar anyway, grumbling that it wouldn’t make a lot anyway.

The guards told Viktor to stop. Viktor continued on. He knew the Leroy family wouldn’t dare kill him, not if they didn’t want to start a new war between families. Nobody ever did.

He reached the front door before JJ came rushing, Isabella beside him, his parents soon after.

“Viktor,” JJ said with a hint of surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“We need to talk.”

JJ glanced around as if searching to see if Viktor had brought anyone with him. When he was satisfied that he hadn’t, JJ turned back to him. “I agree. But you didn’t need to come here. You should have waited for my summon-”

Viktor couldn’t help the laugh that escaped his lips. “You don’t summon me, JJ.”

JJ gave him a small smirk, one full of malice and something more sinister. “You’re in no place to negotiate or argue with me right now. You’re in a very fragile place. Yuuri doesn’t want you anymore. You have a treasure that you know is going to gather every thief from around here knocking on your door. You’re the target now. You got tricked by me. You’re in no position to say otherwise.”

Viktor didn’t let it get to him. He ignored the way the words burned anger inside of himself, destroying the nerves he used to be so proud of. The man before him was right after all – he was in a fragile place, both in situation and in mind. With every waking moment, guilt wracked him until he couldn’t breathe, Yuuri’s voice further pushing him as it replayed and replayed again. But he wasn’t going to let JJ think that that was all there was to him.

“I’ll admit,” he began, taking slow and steady breaths to make sure that his words didn’t come out stumbled and further humiliate him, “that you tricked me. I thought you might have been lying, but I didn’t have the evidence to prove it. I didn’t have the advantage. But you knew that. You used that. My care for Yuuri, you knew that that was going to be the way to get what you wanted out of me.” He took a step closer to the house, unnerving the guards that gathered around the Leroy family. They knew though that if Viktor wanted to do anything to JJ, the guards would not be able to stop him. Perhaps that was why they shook a little, why they seemed unsteady on their feet. “So it worked. Did you plan for the family to come down at that moment too?”

JJ blinked. “Of course, I did. They had to see what sort of person you were.”

Viktor might have been blinded, depressed, disillusioned, but he could still do some aspects of the job he had been trained for. “You’re lying, JJ. You didn’t expect them to come down either.” Viktor took another step forward. “You were going to try and take the real one from me. What were you going to do with the fake? Put it back as a replacement? Take it with you? Frame me?”

JJ barked something at his guards. They rushed forwards, making a wall between the family, the house and Viktor. It was a short distance, the guards’ weapons so close that Viktor knew it would kill him outright if he didn’t prepare. But JJ and his family wouldn’t dare. Yakov might have been subtle with his old age, but he was still the dangerous thief leader that had plagued the rich decades ago. People didn’t forget that.

“But that did work out, didn’t it?” Viktor asked. “You managed to frame me. Yuuri and his family think I stole the collar. They think I worked with you. They think I went against everything I ever said, ever did, and did what they never thought I would. They think the absolute worst of me now because of you.”

JJ shrugged. “I just helped them along. You went there for that intention.”

“At the start. Only ever at the start. As soon as I started getting feelings for Yuuri, it all changed. I was going to protect it, against you, against every other thieving group that was coming too.”

“But that’s not what you’re meant to do. You’ve turned your back on everything you are.”

“Being a thief was never all I was!” Viktor exploded. “I am more than my job. I am more than the worth of things I steal. I am more than what you claim I am. You’ll never understand this, but Yuuri helped me realise it. He wasn’t just a passing phase, or something else I was interested in for a short while. He was someone I loved with every inch of my heart, someone I knew I never deserved, someone I knew I probably didn’t even deserve a chance with. But I’ll never know that now because _you_ took it from me.”

His voice still echoed across the area, bouncing off of the walls of the house, rising above the trees. It was shouting back, but not nearly with as much force as he had given it. He took another deep breath and pushed down his anger once more.

After a moment passed, he said, “But I didn’t come here to tell you that. I came to tell you to back off.”

JJ glanced around, confused. “What?”

“Do you still want the collar?”

He blinked. “Of course, I do. It was always about that. Everyone wanted that.”

“Do others, beside you, know that I have it?”

“Not yet. They’d all pile on you if I told them that. I’d lose my advantage.”

Viktor took one more step forward, almost pushing himself against the weapons of the guards, and fixed JJ with what he hoped was a terrifying stare. He knew he was good at that sort of thing. Yakov had taught him well enough.

“Then this message is only for you. I didn’t protect it well enough when it was still Yuuri’s. If I had left it, if I had had more confidence in Yuuri, then you never would have figured out where it is. But it’s in my hands now. Now it’s my responsibility. And JJ, you’re never going to get anywhere near it.”

He moved to turn around. There were many more things he wanted to say, much of it swearing and blaming and some might even sound like begging. But he wouldn’t. With a man like JJ, it was best to keep it short, precise and simple, otherwise he’d never understand the full impact of it.

“You’ve lost your touch, Viktor!” JJ called after him, just a hint of desperation in his voice. “Hide it as well as you can, but I’ll find it!”

***

Viktor started thinking about places he could hide it. Being a thief, he knew of many, many places. Some were even countries away, some within his own apartment. There was always somewhere, always something secure, always ready for something. But none of it seemed worthy enough. This precious thing of stones and memories, he needed somewhere special for it. He wanted it close.

For the remainder of the day, the collar found its way through different parts of his house. It was hidden in walls, in the boiler, in hollowed books. But none of it seemed to fit. Nothing screamed _safe enough._

He was interrupted however by a call from Yuri. As soon as he saw the name come through on the screen, Viktor wondered what it could be. The teen never called him, he thought it was too uncool.

He answered. “Yuri. What’s up?”

There was an angry grunt at the end. “ _Someone’s down here waiting for you. He refuses to leave until he sees you.”_

“Who… Who is it?” Viktor asked, heart leaping. For a second, his hope was telling him it was Yuuri, come to either forgive him or rip him a new one. But he knew it couldn’t have been. Yuuri didn’t know where he lived, and would find it difficult to figure it out too. But above all, he doubted Yuuri would come to forgive him at all.

_“It’s that small guy, small thief. Works for JJ, I think. I don’t remember his name.”_ There was something muffled, the other person speaking on the other side. _“Guang Hong. He wants to see you.”_

Viktor didn’t contain his sigh. He rubbed his face and collapsed into the sofa. “What does he need to see me for?”

On the other end of the phone, there was more muffled speaking, Yuri’s voice mixed in. A second later, the teen was returning. _“Says it’s something about Yuuri. I don’t know. Are you going to accept his visit or not?”_

He was tempted to say no, that Guang Hong could leave and never come back. He was most likely just coming to scout out the place, to take back information with JJ. Perhaps he would even try to figure out where the collar was. But it wouldn’t be much use. Viktor had hidden it well, for the moment.

But he was tempted to say yes too. Guang Hong must have known he was weak at the mere mention of Yuuri’s name. “Ask him what it’s about.”

Another quick moment of conferring. _“He says he won’t tell you until you’re both face to face.”_

Viktor groaned again. He was leaning towards letting him in now, especially as his mind began to form unpleasant thoughts, that Guang Hong was coming with a warning, that Yuuri might be hurting. “Warn him that one wrong move, and I’ll make sure he goes back to JJ in pieces.”

_“Fucking tell him yourself. I’m not some goddamn messenger. He’s heading up now.”_

“You didn’t even wait for my all-clear before you sent him up.”

_“Didn’t need to. I knew you’d accept as soon as he mentioned that guy you’re love-sick over.”_

Yuri hung up immediately, and no later than that did Viktor heart a timid knock on his door. He could easily not open it right now, could leave it and wait for the little thief to go away. But he was curious now. He wanted to know what Guang Hong knew, and why it involved Yuuri at all. He found himself opening the door before he knew it.

“O-Oh, uh, hi, Viktor,” he stammered, rubbing the back of his neck.

He had always been small, almost passing for a child when it came to certain thieving job, but he seemed smaller now, Viktor thought. Here, standing timid, with eyes flitting across everything, never quite settling or meeting Viktor’s eyes. Fidgeting fingers, nervous energy, sharp taken breaths. For just a moment, Viktor was aware of just how vulnerable the boy was for coming here. It eased some of the pressure inside of himself.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, a little less angry than he had been before. He nodded his head, inviting the boy in wordlessly, and closed the door behind him.

Guang Hong stood awkwardly in the middle of the apartment, trying to look around without it being obvious. “I’m not here on behalf of JJ.”

Viktor felt compelled to pour himself a stiff drink, just to get himself through this. He didn’t. He poured water instead, making one for the scared boy too. He set it down on the coffee table.

Before he could say anything, Makkachin came bounding in through the bedroom door, having woken up from her nap. She paused before Guang Hong, smelling the air, tilting her head as if to ask Viktor if this guest was okay.

“Don’t mind her,” he said, ushering Makkachin back into the bedroom and closing the door. “She’s just a curious little thing.”

“She’s, uh, she’s pretty.”

“Thank you.” Viktor sat himself down on the sofa, crossing his legs. He didn’t invite Guang Hong to sit too. He felt as if that would be too host-like, too comfortable. Guang Hong could do whatever he liked, but Viktor wasn’t going to cater to him. “If you’re not here for JJ, then what are you here for?”

Guang Hong did decide to sit. He sat on the chair opposite the sofa, perched on the edge. “I’m here for you.”

He didn’t say much more, which only further confused Viktor. “Right, then why are you here for me?”

“I’ve got… a message of sorts. It’s from Yuuri.”

Viktor stopped drinking mid-sip, caught by surprise. He slowly settled the drink back down. “You spoke to Yuuri? Did JJ tell you to?”

“JJ… doesn’t know I went to speak to Yuuri. He doesn’t know anything.”

“Why did you speak to him?” The anger was beginning to rise again. Worried that he might break the glass if he held it too tightly, Viktor set it down.

Guang Hong must have felt the tension in the air, because he flinched a little bit. He hid the need to run away very well, though, Viktor thought. If there was one thing he could respect about the small thief, it was that he had come here alone, even knowing who Viktor was and who this building belonged to.

Guang Hong took a deep breath and said, “Because I don’t want a thief war.” His voice was filled with a little bit of anger, and as he spoke, it seemed to grow until he was no longer avoiding Viktor’s gaze and his cheeks had flared a little deeper. “Because you might not understand this, but JJ’s family have been good to me, and as much of an asshole as he is, I don’t want to see any of them dead. He’s being stupid – he’s let his need to overtake you blind him. He thinks it won’t turn out into a full-blown war but I see differently. If this is going to continue…”

Viktor would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about it. He’d not told Yakov everything from fear that the man would march towards the Leroy estate and declare war. He knew which side would win – Yakov was good at that sort of thing – but it would leave bodies, many of them. Other thief families would take sides. It would probably end in blood before the week was up.

“You’re being stupid too,” Guang Hong continued, breaking Viktor from his thoughts. “Stop moping around and do something!”

Viktor glared at the young man. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was slightly impressed that Guang Hong didn’t flinch away from it, though he saw fear in the thief’s eyes. “And what am I meant to do? Tell me, because I’m completely lost.”

“Beg.”

Viktor blinked. “What?” He’d fully expected Guang Hong to say something about giving the collar to JJ to end what might be the beginning’s of war, or give it to Yakov and sell it on before JJ came looking for it. “Beg? To JJ?”

“No,” Guang Hong interrupted before Viktor could grow angrier. “I owe JJ a lot. I owe his family a lot. I’ve done things for them I never wanted to do, but I did it because I love them. It’s amazing, isn’t it, what we’ll do for love?”

“I… don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

“How important is the collar to you?”

“Is this some sort of therapy session now?” When Guang Hong didn’t reply, Viktor sighed. “To me, it holds no importance. It’s important to an important person to me, however.”

“So important that you’d protect it for them?”

“Yes.”

“Have you thought about what to do with it? You haven’t sold it yet. JJ’s been keeping an eye out, and nothing like it has even come into the market.”

“No,” Viktor replied carefully, unsure of what his answers would mean to someone like Guang Hong. “We haven’t sold it yet.”

“Then give it back,” he said. When Viktor didn’t reply this time, he continued, “You’re not going to do anything with it. It’s not important to you. Give it back to Yuuri. I won’t tell JJ, so he’ll still think you have it. Or even make a replica, sell that one on. Just go and give it back to Yuuri.”

Viktor had thought about that too. But for that, he’d need to face Yuuri. That was something he wasn’t sure he could do. He didn’t want to see the same heart-broken expression on Yuuri, as if every suspicion he had thought of Viktor had come true, as if he had been beaten in his own game. As if he’d never forgive someone like Viktor.

He knew he wouldn’t get to see Yuuri’s beautiful smile anymore, or his sleepy expression in the morning, or have his kisses.

“Is that message from Yuuri you have? To give it back?” Viktor felt it rip his heart open, knowing that that was all Yuuri wanted.

“No. Actually, Yuuri didn’t mention anything about the collar when he gave me a message.”

“Then what did he say?”

He said, “If you want even a small chance of being forgiven, you have to go and beg for it. He wants you to explain everything properly, face to face, and grovel before him for another chance.”

Viktor could almost smile if he wasn’t so shocked. He had thought several times about begging Yuuri for another chance, but never thought it would come to anything. He had nightmares of Yuuri moving on, sending the guards to kill him, not needing him anymore.

Guang Hong said, “I don’t know how it is to you, but to me it sounds like he’s even thought about that small chance. Take the collar to him, give it back, and beg like your life depends on it.”

His life did depend on it.

***

He’d never gotten relationship advice from anyone but Chris before, and that was mostly about the sex than the actual relationship part. He certainly never expected to get it from Guang Hong. But what he had said was true. Viktor had thought about it, it wasn’t like it was news, but it seemed like with the message, it was confirmed that there was even a tiny, tiny small slither of a chance. Viktor was going to try his best to make sure he got it.

He took the collar, hid it in the pocket inside his jacket, and began to long walk to Yuuri’s house. It was bright daylight – the sun was high in the sky, the town streets were busy with the thrum of shoppers, and no doubt Yuuri’s house would be filled with activity too.

Yuuri would most likely come to the lobby once Viktor arrived and there would be no privacy. Yuuri would most likely demand that he beg there, right in the middle of everyone, for all the family and staff to see.

Viktor would gladly do it if it meant it would help.

As he reached the gates, he took a deep breath to steady himself. No regrets, he thought. With this, his one regret of hurting Yuuri would be wiped clean. Perhaps he’d get to see Yuuri smile again. Perhaps he’d get to kiss those lips, make him laugh, spend their time talking about eternity together again. Perhaps, with some patience, Yuuri could love him again.

With that in mind, he strode forward.

He heard them before he saw them. He readied himself, holding his hands up in surrender. Guards swarmed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well the begging hasn't quite happened yet, but I wonder what this poses for next chapter hmm? OOOOOOh DRAMA 
> 
> I don't know how many chapters are left but.... I think we're coming to the end soon.... DX 
> 
> If you'd like updates, you can find my tumblr   
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	18. Goodbye, Viktor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by 'beg bitch' whynikkywhy

Yuuri rubbed his temples for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning.

“No,” he grumbled, already feeling tired despite only being up for a few hours. “I don’t care, I don’t want to go.”

His mother and sister stood before him. His mother chewed on her lip, glancing quickly between her children. “I understand, Yuuri. I really do. But if we want to stop these rumours too, then we have to do as we did before. If a family invites us to a party, we must go.”

“I’ve had enough of people talking behind my back,” Yuuri replied. “They’ll talk whatever we do. I’d rather be away from it.”

His mother nodded. “I understand. But they won’t leave you alone until you show your face to them. Show them you’re fine and they’ll lose interest.”

He didn’t know how quickly the rich would lose interest in something like this – the rumours about his treasure was one thing, but having someone he loved turn out to be the thief of the treasure was something completely different. It was proof, it was a sure thing. It was concrete. It would continue to gather fire until it was an endless roar. “If I don’t show myself to them for a long time, they’ll forget about me entirely. It might die down then.”

His mother might have been about to say something more, but stopped when there was a knock on the door. Yuuri answered.

A guard came in. She seemed a little unsure of what to say, eyes locked on Yuuri. “Master, there’s someone here to see you.”

Yuuri rolled his eyes. “Who is it this time?” He wondered if it might be another rich gossip that wanted to see how he was dealing with, just to pass it on to their friendship circle for it to ignite the flames higher. Or perhaps it was someone like Guang Hong coming back, to try and convince him Viktor was good or bad, that he deserved another chance or not. Perhaps it was even JJ, come to rub it in his face.

“It’s Viktor Nikiforov, sir,” the guard said after some hesitation.

Yuuri’s heart immediately stopped, body turned cold.

“He’s being kept downstairs in the lobby. He’s being compliant. What would you like us to do with him?”

He was aware that all eyes turned to him, the guard’s, his mother’s, Mari’s, but everything faded from his vision. He knew he had told Guang Hong to get Viktor to come here and beg, but he never thought anything would come of it. He’d hoped that what Guang Hong had said was true, that Viktor was somewhere, feeling guilty and hoping for a second chance. Yuuri wanted to see him on the floor, begging for it. He wanted to see Viktor in the same pain that he had put Yuuri through.

But he never thought it would come to this.

The guard asked again, “What would you like us to do with him?”

Mari answered him first. She turned towards the door, about to storm out. “I’ll deal with him.”

Yuuri surprised himself by shouting, “Mari, no.”

He’d sometimes thought about what Mari would do to Viktor when the truth came out. She protected Yuuri through everything, becoming even more motherly after Yuuri’s last destructive relationship. He knew she had threatened Viktor once or twice, which he found more entertaining than anything, but now it seemed much more real. Viktor could, quite possibly, end up with his balls dangling from his chin if Yuuri let his sister anywhere near him.

Mari answered his shout and paused, though it seemed to go against every fibre of her being.

Yuuri told the guard, “Take him to the library. Keep a few guards on him. Watch everything he does. I’ll be down in a little bit.”

Yuuri knew what he wanted to do now. He knew there was as much of a chance of Viktor coming to gloat as well as beg, or perhaps do something entirely surprising. But Yuuri knew he wanted to make the most of the situation. If he wanted to get his own back, then he needed to show Viktor that he was fine without him.

He took his time. He enlisted the help of his mother and sister, then of Yuuko, and he even called Phichit around to help. They had him walk in his room in different outfits, Yuuko doing his hair until she said it screamed ‘fuckable’. Yuuri wasn’t sure that that was what he was going for, but the others seemed to agree.

When he was finally dressed up and feeling more confident than he had felt for a very long time, Viktor had been waiting in the library for an hour and a half. Whatever was going through the older man’s head, Yuuri hoped it was hurting him.

He took a moment to himself outside the library doors. He took a deep breath, palm resting on the door, before he pushed it open.

Most of the guards and the staff had been waiting in the lobby, quietly whispering to one another, pausing when Yuuri came down. In the library, there were only five guards, standing around the chair that Viktor was sitting in, weapons drawn.

Viktor looked to be dressed professionally too, with a beautiful navy suit and hair gelled to perfection. He didn’t look like the destroyed man that Yuuri had hoped a tiny bit that he would be. That was, until, Viktor glanced around and their eyes met.

Viktor didn’t look as though he had been crying, but his eyes had a sheen to them that suggested he might come close to it. He seemed a little pale, drawn, bags under his eyes that hadn’t been there before. There was a layer underneath his perfection that shook Yuuri’s confidence a bit.

Yuuri didn’t let it show, however. He tore his eyes away from Viktor, hoping that it showed him as stronger than he felt, and sat in the chair opposite. His sister stood behind him, and Yuuri’s didn’t miss the nervous flicker in his gaze towards Mari. Yuuri’s father was already standing beside the window. He seemed calm, glancing out into the daylight, but Yuuri recognised he was tense. His mother moved to stand beside his father.

Yuuri crossed his legs, tilting his head as he met the man’s gaze once more. He’d thought over a hundred times of the things he’d ask Viktor once they had this moment, or what he’d say or do or everything he wouldn’t too. A thousand things had come to his mind until he almost had them down as a script, with actions to go with them.

But with Viktor here now, before him, it all died away. Memories of their time together flooded his mind, the good, the bad and the hopeful. He remembered Viktor’s touches, and it had him pausing.

He found himself saying something he hadn’t considered, in a voice that sounded more pitiful than he had expected to be, especially dressed like this, with power almost radiating off of him in a way he had dreamed of since he was small. He asked, “Are you happy?”

He wanted it to sound spiteful, but it didn’t. It came out as genuine curiosity, and he supposed it was because it was what he had been questioning since that moment in the kitchen, when his world had shattered. He thought it would destroy him if the answer to that question was ‘yes’. While Yuuri lay in bed, feeling as if a million stars had exploded inside of himself, as if the waves crashed against and crumbled the protection around his heart, if Viktor was enjoying his time outside of that and was happy, Yuuri knew there was going to be no hope.

Viktor didn’t seem phased by the question. Perhaps he had been asking that of himself or of Yuuri since that moment too.

“Nowhere near happy,” he answered.

Perhaps it was a cruel way to think, but Yuuri felt pleased with that answer. It loosened a knot inside of himself that had been tense from the moment he found out what Viktor was – or perhaps further than that, since he began to suspect. Or perhaps further than that again, from when they had first met. He almost felt like he could finally breathe for the first time in a long time, and it almost wracked him with guilt to think that way – until he thought of how Viktor had played him.

“Why not?” he asked. “You got what you wanted. You got more than that too, unless you were also aiming for my heart.” Perhaps, in a better mood, in a different time, they could joke about the pick-up lines they could make out of that and being a thief. He almost thought it would break the ice between them, but it wasn’t the mood, it wasn’t the time.

Viktor broke eye contact and stared down at his lap. “That… that wasn’t what I came here for.”

“No,” Yuuri goaded, giving Viktor a small, humourless smile. “No, what you came for was the collar. My dog’s collar, something I told you more than once was incredibly important to me.”

Viktor glanced up, meeting their eyes again. Yuuri didn’t let himself aww the misery in his expression, because he knew he’d lose his momentum if he let it get to him.

“And yet,” he continued, “you thought it was yours to take. You knew how much it meant to me, and did that not once make you question if it was a good idea?”

Viktor didn’t say anything, though it seemed like he had a lot he wanted to say. He kept opening his mouth and pausing, closing it again. Yuuri thought Viktor might have been giving him the space he needed to say what he wanted to. If he was, then Yuuri was thankful for something Viktor had done. If not, and if he could only stutter, then Yuuri thought him pitiful.

“Have you sold it on? How much did you make for it?” he asked.

He was going to ask something else, but one of the guards stepped forwards. He held open his hand and hanging from it was the collar. It made something catch in Yuuri’s throat to see it. He could tell from the moment he laid eyes on it that it was the real one, not some fake that JJ had been holding that night in the kitchen.

“Why…?” he began, but found it difficult to get the words out.

“He had it on him when he came here,” the guard replied, placing the collar down carefully on the table beside Yuuri. “We found it in his pocket when we searched him.”

“Anything else on him?” his father asked.

“Nothing but that.”

Yuuri couldn’t tear his eyes away from it, feeling it fill a small part of the gap that had torn itself open when he saw Viktor. The shimmer was as he remembered, the weight still heavy, some strands of Vicchan’s fur still attached. He skimmed his finger tips over the surface and drew it back, turning back to Viktor.

“Why would you bring this back with you?”

Viktor took a deep breath. “I didn’t intend to sell it. That wasn’t my aim for a very long time.”

“Since when?”

Viktor blinked. “Since… what?”

“Since when did your intention change? You came for the collar, didn’t you? You intended to sell it when you found it. That was why you introduced yourself to me the first time we met. When did that intention change?”

Viktor shook his head. “That wasn’t actually why I introduced myself to you that night. I’d have done it even if you weren’t the collar’s owner.”

“W-Why?”

“You are beautiful, Yuuri. I was attracted to you the moment I met you. I wanted to get to know you. I wanted you to talk to me, to see how you smiled, how you laughed, how you’d react to things I said or did. I wanted to get closer to you.”

Yuuri felt his heart beginning to thump against his ribs. Torturous, betraying heart. “Answer my question. Since when did your intentions change?”

“Very early on,” Viktor replied, fingers tapping nervously against his leg. “Not right at the start, but when we got to know each other better. I started to think I was making a big mistake, because I didn’t want to lose you, but I didn’t want to lose my family either. I was so… I was so torn, but I knew I didn’t want to hurt you.”

Yuuri came close to saying that it was too late, but he felt like that would be too petty. He swallowed the words down and said, “Then what were you going to do?”

“I was going to protect it.”

Yuuri narrowed his eyes. That was not the answer he had expected. “What?”

“I was going to protect it – that was what I was trying to do that night. JJ has this thing against me, and he told me he was aiming for it,” Viktor rushed to answer. “I decided a while ago that I was going to help you-”

“Without telling me?”

Yuuri saw Viktor swallow nervously, and that both fed the fire inside of himself and made him want to throw water over it.

Viktor said, “I knew you were already suspicious of me. I thought telling you that I knew all about it and what I was would give you that excuse to cut me from your life. I didn’t want that.”

And Yuuri didn’t want that either, but this is where it had come to. In the end, Yuuri wasn’t sure how he’d have reacted if Viktor had approached him and told him everything. He wasn’t sure he’d have believed him, or grown more suspicious, or even have trusted him. “But that wasn’t your call to make,” he said with less venom than he thought he would. “The collar was mine. The loss was mine. The call was mine.”

Viktor nodded. “I understand that now. I wish I could go back and change it. I can only explain now.”

A sudden thought occurred to him, and Yuuri felt it overtake everything else in his mind. “How… How did you even find out it was the collar? The rumours never specified. No one but a select few of us knew.”

Viktor didn’t look at him, and Yuuri knew then it was bad. He knew he had hinted very slightly at the possibility of it, especially when he had been suspicious of who Viktor was. But even then, even if Viktor suspected what it might be, he knew thieves needed evidence. He leaned a little further in the chair, staring hard at the crown at the top of Viktor’s head as the other man was bowed staring at the ground. “How did you and JJ know where it was?”

“I-I…” Viktor paused, shaking his head very slightly. “It’s going to be bad to admit, Yuuri. It’s not going to help my chances.”

“Just tell me how you knew.”

“I saw photo albums of Vicchan. I saw him with the collar. I knew by then what sort of family you were, and how out of place it was that you had given all these riches to your dog. I saw the dog bed in your room and knew you still held onto things that Vicchan had, though I hadn’t seen the collar around. And then you told me the story of how important he was to you, and it sort of… just confirmed it.”

Right. So in the end, Yuuri had been a little too obvious. He had known he should have thrown that dog bed out, but sometimes, in the morning, when he woke from a nightmare or from a restless sleep, he half expected to see Vicchan still curled up there, snoring. Seeing Vicchan like that had always calmed him. Throwing out that dog bed felt like it was too concrete what had happened to him, too empty. He couldn’t ever think of throwing out the pictures – those things could never be remade. But perhaps he shouldn’t have been so obvious with their placing and hidden the album.

And perhaps he shouldn’t have trusted Viktor enough to tell him everything about his life.

Well, not everything.

“How did you know where it was?” he repeated.

“When I decided to protect it, I needed to know where it was. I followed you one night and you showed me.”

Yuuri breathed through the storm that was trying to destroy the inside of his chest. He was both annoyed with himself, for being so oblivious to being followed, and with Viktor, for following in the first place. “Do you know why the collar means so much to me? Or the bed? Or the pictures?”

Viktor glanced up, finding it hard to keep Yuuri’s gaze. Yuuri wondered why that was. Perhaps, for Viktor who always seemed to easily read his emotions, he must have seen what was going through his head.

“You…” Viktor began, and Yuuri was sure he was thinking of all he had told him, about how Vicchan had given him everything, filled his loneliness. “He meant so much to you.”

“He did. But that’s not entirely why.” Deciding to take another route, and deciding that he was okay with guilt tripping Viktor into feeling worse than he was for all that he had done, he asked, “I got suspicious of you when I saw that you showed an interest in me. Do you know why?”

Viktor only seemed to grow more confused. “Because… you thought I was after the collar.”

“Again, I did, but not entirely why.”

He could feel the stares of his mother and father, Mari slowly stalking closer to him as if she wasn’t sure if she wanted to comfort him or stop him. Until recently, he hadn’t considered telling Viktor any of this. Not even as he thought he was going to spend the rest of his life with Viktor, when his whole body was overflowing with love, did he think about telling Viktor things about his past.

But he thought, somehow, telling Viktor might bring something up. If he saw how Viktor reacted to it, maybe something would change. Maybe something would be decided.

“I had a relationship before you, you know,” he began, and even after these years, it hurt to have the truth escape his mouth. “I know, hard to believe for someone like me, someone who doesn’t socialise much.”

Viktor shook his head. “Not hard to believe at all. You’re gorgeous, Yuuri.”

Yuuri waved his hand, stopping Viktor from saying anything else, but not before he saw what seemed to look like jealousy sparking in the man’s eyes. “It wasn’t that long ago, but I was young. I was lonely. I loved Vicchan, but I longed for human company, something more than the love of a family. I wanted a relationship, so I threw myself into the first one that came along. He wasn’t the nicest person, but I overlooked it.” It was getting harder to speak. Memories that he had kept at bay for years came flooding back. “He told me he loved me. I told him I loved him too. We were both lying, but at least for me it was just because I didn’t know what love was at the time. I thought I did, I thought I was, but I didn’t and I wasn’t. He was just lying.”

Viktor made to say something, but Yuuri held up his hand. He’d be lying if he said that he didn’t enjoy some of the power it gave him, knowing that if Viktor desperately wanted forgiveness, he needed to listen to everything he said. For once, Yuuri was the one that held all the cards. He didn’t want to let go any time soon, for fear that he would lose his way again.

Yuuri shrugged and leaned back in his chair, tearing his eyes away. He found it hard looking into Viktor’s eyes. They were so different from the eyes of his previous partner that it felt too much like a harsh reminder. In a way, that was good. In another, it was the hardest part. “Maybe he just wanted the intimacy, or he was bored. Maybe he liked playing with people. Maybe it was the money. I don’t know. The only way to find out why he even started the relationship would be to ask him, and I never want to get close to that monster again.”

He faded off for a long while, filling the library air with silence. He tried to find a way to say it, a way to explain exactly what had happened without sounding pitiful. He’d spent so much of his life surrounded in pity that he wanted it gone now.

When he finally did speak, it almost felt like bursting a bubble. “Yeah, whatever made him interested in me at the start became irrelevant quickly. He got pretty obsessed with Vicchan. I thought at first it was the collar, but I think that was only part of it. He’d get jealous of me spending time with Vicchan. He got emotionally manipulative, and further into the relationship he got… weird. He thought Vicchan was going to become his. He thought he was entitled to the pup, even though nothing like that had ever been talked about. He started to get violent – not at me, but destroying things in the house, punching walls, stuff like that. I started wanting to break up and I think he knew that.”

It felt weird, saying it all like this, out in the open, in front of the family and the guards that had seen it all happen. His parents had encouraged that he go and seek therapy, but he knew he didn’t want to do that. Not that he had been okay after it, but because talking about it hurt. It eased, taking longer than he knew it would if he had gone to therapy, but it eased anyway. After more time, he didn’t have to go out into public dreading the rich families that would be snickering behind their hands at him.

Yuuri turned to look Viktor in the eyes again. “I don’t know what went through his mind. Maybe he was desperate to keep things the way they were, or he was so obsessed with control. I just knew he didn’t love me, and I had long since pretended to love him. It was on the morning that I told him I wanted him to leave that he hit Vicchan with his car.”

Yuuri saw Viktor flinch, and somehow that stopped Yuuri from shaking at the memory.

“I know you’re not like that,” Yuuri whispered. “I knew since the start. You didn’t have the same air as him. You smiled properly. You actually made me believe you when you told me I was beautiful. But I was still suspicious of people who showed any interest in me because of him. And when you started showing an interest in Vicchan and the collar, I felt like I was doomed to repeat the same mistake over and over again, all in completely different ways until I lost more and more of Vicchan. He was the only stable thing that ever existed in my life. He was the only thing that came without conditions.”

“I’m…” Viktor stopped. Yuuri glared at him, because if he had to hear the words ‘I’m sorry’ in this context one more time, he was sure he was going to rip someone’s throat out. Instead, Viktor changed it to, “I’d never do anything like that to you.”

“No, instead, you play with my emotions and steal the collar from me.”

Yuuri expected Viktor to launch back into the same story, of how he had wanted to protect it but JJ had tricked him. Just as Guang Hong had said, just as their story went.

He did not expect Viktor to stand and then slowly sink to the floor until he was bowed before him.

He wasn’t sure if his family gasped, or if it had come out of his own mouth. Someone gasped. There were shuffling feet. He grew more rigid in his chair, unable to tear his eyes away from Viktor.

Viktor broke eye contact and bowed his head to the floor, curled until he was almost a ball.

“What are you doing?” he asked, voice easily displaying his unease.

Viktor’s voice came out as muffled as he spoke, refusing to come out of the bow. “Guang Hong told me he had a message from you. He said if I didn’t bow or beg, I shouldn’t expect a second chance.”

Yuuri had said that, or something close enough. He’d meant it mainly as an escape of his frustration and sadness, as some feigned show that he was strong coming out of this. He never expected Viktor to take it seriously, and he never expected in any world, any universe, that the man would actually do it either. He never thought about what he’d do if it happened.

But now Viktor was bowing before him, one moment away from begging, and admittedly it made some of the anger simmer inside him.

He was about to tell Viktor to stop when the man began to speak.

Voice still muffled, Viktor said, “I’m so sorry, Yuuri. I’ve thought of a thousand ways to tell you how sorry I am, but nothing ever seemed good enough. I thought you’d never accept it, no matter what I did. But I know now it was never my place to assume it. Even if you don’t ever accept my apologies, you deserve them anyway. I spent the whole time coming here thinking of the best way to say it, but I couldn’t come up with anything other than ‘I’m so, so, incredibly sorry’.”

Yuuri couldn’t say anything. He could hear the desperation in Viktor’s voice, almost more than in his words, and he knew how much that meant. The great thief Viktor, bowing before him, begging. Apologising. Because that was the most important aspect of all of this.

After what had happened, Yuuri didn’t hear anything from Viktor. It was true that he had blocked his phone, but for someone like the man before him, Viktor could have found a way around it. He always managed to do it some other way, but he didn’t try. Yuuri thought that was it. He’d leave without an apology, without what Yuuri rightfully deserved. Without even an attempted story.

Viktor continued, “I should have apologised as soon as it happened. I was scared. Seeing your face, Yuuri… seeing how broken you were broke me too. I thought that was the end. I thought there was nothing else I could do.”

Yuuri’s jaw clenched. “But that wasn’t your call to make.”

Viktor pressed his forehead to the floor. “I know that now. I didn’t come here expecting you to ever forgive me. I don’t expect for someone like me to be given a chance. I’m apologising, and I’m giving back the collar I stole, and I don’t expect anything in return. I just desperately want you to know I never meant to hurt you. I’m stupid. I’m an absolute idiot.”

Yuuri opened his mouth to agree, but the words died in his mouth.

“I don’t want to leave without saying I’m sorry. If you never want to see me again, that’s perfectly understandable and I’ll do my best to stay out of your way.” Viktor was quiet for a moment and his body shuddered for a moment, and Yuuri wondered for a second if the man was crying. When he spoke, it wasn’t bubbly from tears, but strained as if he was trying to keep them at bay. “But if you do ever decide to forgive me, please know that you’d make me the happiest I’ve ever been. It’s more than I deserve, but I’d strive for every second of every day for the rest of our lives to make up for it and make you the happiest man alive. I’ve made one mistake. I won’t ever do it again. Please, Yuuri. I love you. I love you so much.”

It pulled at Yuuri’s heart. He found himself turning back on all the anger, remembering more of their good days than their bad, back when Viktor would say ‘I love you’ often and in the morning light. Back when Yuuri would spend hours admiring Viktor’s body in the morning, when he’d hang on his every word, when the most of his worries were if the other families were talking about him behind his back.

“I love you, Yuuri,” Viktor repeated, and with each word his voice sounded more strained, watery, trembling. “I know that you don’t have to forgive me, but I beg that you do. I’ve been miserable since I hurt you. I’ve never felt as lonely as I have these last few days. You… You probably don’t feel the same anymore-”

“You’re assuming again, Viktor.”

Yuuri’s words had Viktor looking up from his bow, momentarily surprised by his interruption.

Spurred by the look on Viktor’s expression, Yuuri said, “It wouldn’t hurt as much as it has if I didn’t love you. I wouldn’t have found it difficult to get out of bed if I didn’t feel like this. I wouldn’t have had sleepless nights. I wouldn’t have lost my appetite, or not found the company of loved ones as emptying as it has been. I wouldn’t be here, pretending to be stronger than I have been for days, if I didn’t love you, Viktor. If I didn’t _still_ love you, it would be easier.”

His words had Viktor silent, just staring up at Yuuri as if he was trying to calculate what his words actually meant. Yuuri thought it would be much easier – hearing Viktor’s side, and then he’d throw the man out entirely. Never hear from him again.

But he heard the truth in every single one of Viktor’s words and it had him pausing. It had him longing too, for a future he had once thought possible.

He missed Viktor. He missed what they had. He missed the kisses, the smiles, the love, the way Viktor showered him with every compliment under the sun, the way Yuuri would shower Viktor in affection in return. Pain was telling him to never accept it. Everything else told him he would only ever be happy if he did.

“Tomorrow night,” he said, “meet me out the back in the woods at seven. If I come, it means I’ve forgiven you and we can talk about it, just the both of us. We can decide what happens then.”

Viktor looked hopeful for a moment until something else occurred to him. “And if you don’t come?”

“It means I haven’t forgiven you. That will be your answer.” Yuuri stood, feeling as if every inch of him had gained a hundred pounds since he had sat down. “Goodbye, Viktor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is very late today because of the fact that I had a 15 hour shift today that I just back from one hour ago, and then my internet was not working when I got home... However, even through that, I got it working and here it is! I was so worried it wouldn't work, I didn't know what to do... XD 
> 
> I hope the begging was sufficient? However, I have also left it with another cliffhanger which... I know is what I often do but I just couldn't resist :3 Hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> You can find me on tumblr   
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	19. He Knew The Way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta read by me, so there are probably going to be a few mistakes... I'm sorry XD

Viktor sort of expected it. He had hoped that with enough begging, with enough of an explanation, and with enough of an apology, Yuuri might forgive him.

But he knew Yuuri wasn’t straightforward. Yuuri had always pulled him around in the best possible way, twisting and turning until every expectation Viktor had had was ruined beautifully. He knew something as simple as prostrating himself before Yuuri, begging and apologising for everything he had done, would be enough to make up for the hurt he had caused. He knew he was lucky enough to even have a small chance at it, and that was why he didn’t continue begging.

If he pushed it, he might ruin the small part of Yuuri that was actually contemplating it. Yuuri had said to meet tomorrow night. If he came, Viktor would be forgiven. If not… well, if not, there was nothing that Viktor could say that would change it, and he couldn’t blame him.

They let Viktor go.

It was not the most comfortable release. As he walked, he was stared at by the entire staff, the house submerged in silence. The air was tense until it was pressing on his lungs, making it difficult for him to breathe. He kept glancing back, hoping to catch Yuuri’s eye, but the man hadn’t followed from the library. His sister had, as well as his father, and those were the gazes that Viktor did not want to catch. Their stares were like wolves, waiting for Yuuri to give the word to eat Viktor alive.

Nothing seemed to ease until the front door was shut in his face. Still, the guards escorted him to the entrance of the estate, almost throwing him out of the gates before he could do anything. As they closed the gates and walked away, everything seemed to finally ease enough for him to take a deep breath.

But there was a pull on his chest. He knew it wouldn’t properly ease until he knew what Yuuri’s decision was, and he had more than a full day until then. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do.

He had given back the collar. That was good, at least, he thought. As horrible as he thought it might be, and as much as he knew it was the right thing to do, he hoped it somehow helped Yuuri’s decision. It was cruel. Yuuri deserved the collar more than he deserved Viktor. But Viktor wanted Yuuri. He wanted to be beside him again, to be able to wake up with him, go to sleep, to touch him, to kiss, to spend their eternity with him – or at least for as long as Yuuri would allow him to be beside him.

And yet he knew Yuuri’s thoughts on what he was. A thief, going around and stealing things that were precious to others. He never felt guilty about it before, but as soon as he thought about what Yuuri thought of him, it meant everything. Yuuri, alone in his room, thinking more of what Viktor did for a living and how they didn’t seem to mesh well, reducing the chances of forgiveness.

Viktor decided to distract himself from such thoughts, knowing that they would consume him otherwise. He began to ring around, spreading word with old connections that he hadn’t needed for years. He began to weave a small web, slipping in information about having sold the collar through Yakov’s connections.

He made it seem like it was a secret. He knew it would spread by tomorrow night, the time he was going to be meeting Yuuri.

Almost as soon as he had hung up on the last connection, Yakov was calling.

_“Where is it?”_ he asked as soon as Viktor picked up. He sounded harsh, tense, and Viktor knew that this would not be an easy conversation.

“Where’s what?” Viktor asked. He knew that the conversation coming would be hard, and he knew there would be difficult questions, and he knew pushing it would not last long. But he did his best.

_“Where is the collar?”_ Yakov said slowly. There was fire in his voice, a storm rising before Viktor could think of ways to calm it.

“Oh, that,” Viktor replied. He wasn’t sure what to say. He glanced around, making sure that no one was close enough to listen, before he slipped down a pathway in a park, covering himself with the undergrowth. “See, there was this thing. A lot of people wanted it, and I thought we could get the money directly-”

_“Do not lie to me, Viktor. You cannot lie to me.”_

Viktor rubbed his forehead, sighing. “You knew how I felt. You know how I still feel. You’re intelligent, Yakov. You’ve already figured it out. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be as annoyed as you are now.”

Yakov was quiet for a moment, his breathing slow into the receiver. _“Why would you give it back?”_

“Like I said, you know how I feel. I told you. I told you everything about how I felt, and so you should have known what I was going to do before I even knew. Maybe you did.” Knowing he was beginning to ramble, he reigned himself in. “The collar meant so much to Yuuri. I had to give it back.”

_“Everything you steal is precious to the person you steal it from.”_

“But I didn’t love any of them.” Viktor was whispering with as much annoyance as he could, almost mirroring the tone he could hear coming from Yakov. It always happened like that. They fed off one another until they riled each other up. Filled with shouting, red faced and arms flying about, they could argue about anything and everything. Or so Mila said. But Viktor didn’t think they had argued about something so important before.

_“You could have replaced it. Give him a fake one, and we could sell the real one.”_

“You’re not getting it, Yakov.” Speaking slowly, Viktor said carefully, “The collar does not matter anymore. Yuuri is far more important to me than it ever was.”

_“And so you damage our reputation for the sake of a man that might never forgive you.”_

Viktor wasn’t going to ask how Yakov seemed to know things before anyone else. He had asked once, the answer was never given.

“I spread rumours about it being sold by you. No one has to know different. It won’t damage any of your reputation.”

_“And if someone figures that out?”_

“No one will. If they do, it’ll be too late anyway.”

_“Yuuri could tell people.”_

Clearly, despite everything Viktor had told him, after all the information that Yakov had gathered concerning Yuuri, the man didn’t know Yuuri or his family. “If they went through this much effort to hide it, then they’ll go through more effort to hide it again and make sure it stays hidden this time.”

Yakov was quiet for a moment as he hummed against the receiver. He left Viktor waiting for an agonisingly long time, until the younger man was sure that Yakov wouldn’t say anything. But just as he suspected that Yakov was planning the awkward tension, the older man spoke, _“What are you going to do about JJ? He set claim on it, and you selling it onto someone else will annoy him and his family. If they look into it, there’s a chance they could figure it out. They know most of our contacts.”_

Viktor was beginning to get stressed. He had done what he did because he thought it was the right thing, and he thought it would give him a chance to get Yuuri back. But so far, all it had given him was insecurities, an open promise with Yuuri, a strained relationship with his family and the potential of a war. Perhaps he shouldn’t have done it. Perhaps it had all been wrong in the end.

“Well,” he said, already placing his finger on the end call button, “I’ll figure that out when we come to it.” He pressed it and cut Yakov off before he could say anything, feeling a little less strained when he was alone.

He wanted to call Chris and get some comfort from his best friend, or perhaps even call Mila and ask her advice. Perhaps Georgi would have something to say about his love life, being the romantic he was. Or maybe even Yuri might have something to say. But he didn’t call any of them. He didn’t want to drag them in further than he had dragged himself, knowing that if something fell through then it would be his fault and no one else’s.

Instead, he found the closest café and ordered a coffee, uncaring of what type it was. He wanted to whittle away the hours, speed through them until it was time to meet Yuuri behind his house.

The wait would be the most painful part. His gaze kept flickering back to the clock on the wall, and each time only a small amount of time had passed.

***

When the café closed, he found another way to distract himself. He went home and played with Makkachin, and for some time that lifted the mood inside of himself, until he remembered Vicchan and what had happened to him. It brought everything back.

Makkachin went to sleep, and Viktor was left in the apartment to gaze out of the window into the darkness. His face was reflected back, portraying just how miserable he felt. As the heavens opened up and the skies cried, their streaks of rain dribbled down the window pane and he watched them all fall, wishing that it would distract him enough until the time came to leave.

As the sun rose, he began to feel tired. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept properly, or when his dreams hadn’t been consumed by his current job. His eyes began to droop. He wondered if he had enough time to sleep before he needed to meet Yuuri in twelve hours.

He fed Makkachin some breakfast before he settled down on the sofa and napped for a short time. It was disjointed, interrupted by dreams of Yuuri walking away, of his family leaving him, of everything crashing and burning. He knew there were some things he was going to have to face, JJ being one of them, but for the moment, his whole mind was overtaken by Yuuri and what his answer was. Everything could wait until then.

When the time came, he dressed in his best outfit. He wanted to look good for Yuuri. He wanted to make the effort. He arrived too early, the clock just striking six, but he didn’t leave. He waited, listening to the sounds of Yuuri’s staff singing in the distance, the smell of the evening meal hanging heavy in the air. In response, his stomach clenched and growled, reminding him that he had eaten very little since he had lost Yuuri.

That, like everything, could wait.

His heart hammered more and more as the time came. The arms on his watch clicked achingly slowly. They teased him.

When seven o’clock came, nothing happened. There was no shudder in the trees, no sound of footsteps, no animals alerting him. Nothing but the same singing from the house, the smell beginning to fade in the evening air.

Fifteen minutes passed. Nothing changed. Half an hour. Nothing.

Viktor felt his heart sink as he wondered how long he should wait before he got the picture and left. He knew this was going to be the answer. He had hurt Yuuri enough with what he was and what he had done – he was lucky enough to have Yuuri even consider forgiving him. Ultimately, Yuuri lost nothing in letting Viktor go.

Viktor checked his watch for the hundredth time, swallowing through the bulb that was lodging itself at the back of his throat. His eyes were stinging.

He decided he’d wait until eight o’clock, just in case there was something that was holding Yuuri back. An hour. That should be enough time, right? That might give him some hope. But it didn’t. He knew he was deluding himself into thinking Yuuri would turn up.

Only five minutes had passed before he was pacing the floor, leaning on the trees, contemplating just running off right now.

“You’re still here.”

Viktor turned before he even knew what it was he had heard. Yuuri was stood before him, dressed in casual clothes, hair a little bit of a mess due to the wind, honey skin paler than usual and blood-shot eyes. He looked as Viktor suspected he himself might look.

Viktor bit his lip, concealing the fear he had been slowly consumed by from showing. “Of course, I am,” he replied. “I was waiting for you.”

Yuuri shuffled on his feet. “But I didn’t come until now. I was late. Why didn’t you leave?”

There was a hitch in Yuuri’s voice that had Viktor pausing. He had planned to only wait until eight, but he knew he wouldn’t have left then. He’d have waited longer, perhaps until the dawn, perhaps until he saw Yuuri finally moving on and dancing with another. Or perhaps he’d never leave. But just as he’d been wondering what to do, Yuuri had finally come.

There was some guilt in Yuuri’s gaze, and amazement that Viktor was still here at all. He was breathing heavily, as if he had rushed. Somehow, that seemed to give Viktor’s answer before Yuuri even said anything.

“I was waiting for you,” he answered.

“But… But what if I didn’t come?”

Viktor didn’t want to think about that. His heart was swelling with emotions, a mix that he couldn’t figure out, and he didn’t let himself think too much of it yet. Yuuri being here didn’t mean much more than if he hadn’t turned up, he reminded himself – not until he got confirmation from the man himself. He stepped forward, slowly reaching out to hold Yuuri’s hands. He waited for Yuuri to take them.

Yuuri seemed torn. He gazed between Viktor’s outstretched hand and his expression, as if fighting something inside of himself.

Before Yuuri could scare himself, Viktor said, “I respect every decision you make, Yuuri. If you hadn’t come, I’d leave it at that. That is the decision you made, and I would never push you. But you didn’t leave me here. You came.”

“I wasn’t going to,” Yuuri replied, slowly raising his hand, a jagged movement that seemed to shudder in indecision. “I’ve tried to explain it, but I really don’t think you could ever understand how much that hurt me, Viktor. Not just because of what it meant to me, but because of how I felt for you. I just… I wasn’t going to come.”

Hearing Yuuri say that had Viktor’s heart clenching, throat aching. He wanted to hear differently, but he knew he should be thankful that Yuuri turned up at all. And yet, it hurt him all the same, reminding him of what he had done.

“I could spend the rest of our lives apologising is that’s what you want me to do?” he promised.

Yuuri shook his head. “It’s not what I want at all. I’ve heard you say it once, even beg it, but hearing it more won’t change my mind now.”

“D-Does that mean, you’ve decided it’s finished?” There was a rush in his head, blood pooling until everything seemed to deafen. He should have known that Yuuri coming here didn’t mean forgiveness, or even the beginnings of it, but just Yuuri’s empathy telling him that he should break the news to Viktor himself.

But before that thought could begin to panic him, Yuuri rushed to grab Viktor’s hands. “No, Viktor. That’s not what I’m saying. I-I never expected you to actually come to me and beg for forgiveness, or to apologise to me. Hearing it just once has managed to completely turn my anger for you around on its head. I was so sure I was never going to forgive you, and when you came to my house, I thought you’d pretend, or come to brag about what you did.” As if realising now he held Viktor’s hand, he moved to take his grip away. Viktor was about to let him, but it seemed Yuuri stopped himself. Perhaps it was the touch of Viktor’s hand on his, or perhaps it was something else, but he began to fiddle with Viktor’s hands, opening the fingers, touching his palms, slowly but fiercely as if he had been touch-starved. “But I could tell you weren’t lying. I was blinded by anger, I needed time to think without it hurting. I wasn’t going to come and meet you for my own preservation. I thought, rationally, it would be better for us to end what was between us.”

Rationally, Viktor knew that too. Things would be easier. Issues could be smoothed out, crinkles left to fade, a return to how things were.

“But I don’t want that,” he said.

Slowly, quietly, Yuuri agreed, “Neither do I.”

Viktor could almost have collapsed in the relief that flooded him at that. He couldn’t stop the grin that pulled at his lips. “And you came?”

Yuuri gave him a very small smile back, nodding. “Yeah. I came. When seven came and went, I started to think what life would be without you. I couldn’t imagine it. It felt like I was back when Vicchan passed, when everything was empty, everything hurt. I felt so alone. I decided to come and see you. I didn’t expect to see you still here. I thought for sure you’d have left by now.”

Desperation. If there was a way that Viktor could describe the way Yuuri was looking at him, holding him, the way he spoke, it would be desperate. He could understand that. He had been desperate since the very first day he had ever met Yuuri. Thinking he might be overstepping a newly developed mark, he stopped himself from grabbing Yuuri into a tight hug. He felt like he was stepping on a field of mines, any one of them able to send Yuuri running back to the house and taking away the forgiveness he had clutching so delicately.

Instead, he let himself drown in the feeling of Yuuri’s touch against his hand, the way Yuuri was slowly relaxing in his presence.

“Does this mean I’m forgiven?” he asked.

Yuuri didn’t speak for what felt like an eternity, biting the side of his lip in thought as his gaze scanned over Viktor’s face. Just as Viktor thought he had overstepped a mark again, Yuuri said, “At the beginning of forgiveness, yes. But Viktor, I can’t escape the fact that you’re a thief. You still approached me with the collar in mind. You still know people like JJ. Even if you gave it back, there are some things I can’t trust you with for a long time, until you proved it to me.”

Viktor nodded, expecting something like this to begin with. “I’m going to prove it. I’ll do everything I can to prove it to you. I’m just happy enough right now that you’re even giving me a small chance.”

Yuuri smiled a little more, taking a step forward to close the gap between them. Slowly, tentatively, he cupped Viktor’s cheeks and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. When he pulled back, he whispered against his skin, “It’s been hard deciding what to do. I risk myself in forgiving you, and yet I hurt myself if I don’t. I _am_ giving you this chance, Viktor, but know that if you do anything like this again, or if I suspect you of working with someone like JJ, or if you are lying to me, I will not do this a second time. I will disappear and you will never be able to find me. Do you understand?”

Caught between fear and feeling proud of how strong Yuuri was, despite everything, Viktor nodded. “I understand.”

***

They arranged to meet another time. Yuuri said he wanted to take it slow, Viktor agreed. He would agree with anything if it meant Yuuri was more comfortable with it, as long as it didn’t end with Yuuri deciding he wanted to end it.

They separated after their meeting, Viktor feeling lighter than he had for a few days but still with an underlying dark feeling. It wouldn’t go away until he felt like they were returning to what they had been before, when everything was easy and they were wrapped up in their love. He longed for those days.

Just as he was thinking about it, as he was unlocking the front door of his apartment, he received a call. He cursed as soon as he saw the name.

Makkachin was barking on the other side of the door, pushing at the gap between the threshold as he let himself in.

He answered the call. “What do you want?”

_“So, despite your prattling on about precious Yuuri, you sold it anyway,”_ JJ chuckled on the other side.

Viktor swallowed down his pride, wanting to smile. He knew now not to think too soon with someone like JJ. The young man seemed to very easily unnerve Viktor recently. “You ruined any chance I had with Yuuri. I had nothing left.”

_“You decided then to just sell it?”_

“Yes.” He locked the door behind himself and took his bags to the kitchen counter. “Why are you calling me about that? It doesn’t concern you.”

_“I helped you get the collar.”_

“You tricked me into getting it, you mean.” His blood was beginning to boil from speaking to the other man. It was good to know that the rumours he had spread were beginning to get to the target, and he didn’t want to say anything too soon, but it seemed that JJ was buying it. “What’s the matter? Did you want me to give you a chance of buying it off of me?”

_“You owe me, Viktor. I helped you. I deserve some of that money.”_

“You don’t deserve any of it. You didn’t help me with anything. I knew where it was already.”

_“But if it wasn’t for me, you would have been running after Yuuri for a long time. I gave you that time to break free and to finally take it for yourself. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t get any of that money to begin with.”_

Viktor clenched his teeth and breathed through them, trying to make sure that he kept his composure. No one seemed to understand, not Yakov, not JJ and on the surface, not Yuuri either. No one understood his position or how he felt. Everything they said seemed to get on his nerves, whatever their meaning was. He just had had enough.

“I don’t owe you anything, JJ,” Viktor replied, beginning to get Makkachin’s food together. “I made the claim first. I approached the family first. I found the collar first. There is nothing in that that tells me I owe you anything.”

_“I can find it. Wherever you’ve sold it, I can find it again.”_

This time, Viktor didn’t contain the smile that tugged on his lips. “And do what? I’ve sold it already. I’ve ruined my chances with Yuuri. I’m untouchable again, unchallenged. There isn’t anything that you can do that does more damage than you’ve already done.”

_“I’m sure people like the Katsukis have more precious things in their house. I could spread rumours. They could have hundreds of thieves descending on them in a matter of hours.”_

“To what end?” Viktor ground out. “I’ve sold it. Yakov has the money, I don’t. I never get the money. You know this. I get a cut. It’s distributed between the rest of the family. I have no links to the collar anymore. Just leave me alone.”

He was about to hang up, but JJ began shouting. _“It’s not enough, Viktor. It doesn’t feel like it’s enough. I wanted to destroy your reputation. That was before I knew what you and Yuuri were. I’ve only ruined that. You’re back to what you are, what you were before this collar deal, and that’s never what I wanted.”_

“Careful there, JJ. You sound like a child.”

_“It’s not enough.”_

Feeling stronger now that he knew JJ had fallen for the rumour spreading, Viktor replied, “Then do something better. I’m sure it won’t be long before I accept a new job. I won’t tell you anything of it. Find it out, come after me, and ruin it while I’m on it. That’s the way to ruin a job for me. Don’t go around making some childish excuses like ruining a relationship that I was completely immersed in. That’s not the way to get to me, as you’ve probably learned by now.”

_“You were distracted. I had to stop you.”_

“I’m not distracted anymore.” He hung up before JJ could say anything else. His blood was boiling. Perhaps it was something about the way that JJ seemed so much like a child now that the ruin had happened, or the way he had threatened the Katsukis, but something about it wasn’t like it was before. He didn’t seem as intimidating.

Maybe it was because he knew the worst had happened and he was still able to get Yuuri on his side again.

He set Makkachin’s food down and settled on the sofa with a drink. He sent Yuuri a quick goodnight text and waited for a reply. Yuuri sent one an hour later, a kiss at the end.

Viktor felt himself breathe properly. For the first time, he felt like the path was clear. He knew the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've probably caught out a load of people because yeah, this was updated really early in the morning for me, but if I don't update it now, I have no time until tomorrow midnight... XD So here it is! It's shorter than the other chapters, only because my timeframe because of work and other things have been pretty hard on me this week, but only by like... 700 words I think? 
> 
> Hope you liked it anyway! 
> 
> You can find me on tumblr   
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	20. Make Yourself at Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by rich whynikkywhy

Yuuri twirled the collar in his hands again, watching as the low sun caught the stone in the middle. It almost seemed blinding.  

Not just the light it was catching, but because of the fact that it was back. He was convinced it would never come back. He often found himself gazing at it lately, disbelieving, reminded of all that he had gone through to get it in his hands again.

“Does this make up for what he did?”

Yuuri glanced from the collar to where Phichit sat, flipping through his phone as it rang with the hundreds of messages and notifications that he somehow always managed to get through, despite Yuuri questioning on how he ever did it.

“A little,” Yuuri replied. He never thought he’d say that. He thought that was it, that he never needed to contact Viktor again. He was so close to not turning up to their meeting, thinking it would be best for not just him but the both of them if he didn’t. But he couldn’t go through with it. Each minute that he sat in his room became more painful until it was nearly unbearable.

Thinking he had already missed the opportunity and that Viktor had already left, Yuuri went to see where, if he had been a little stronger, if he had been a little quicker, he might have met Viktor and they could talk it through a little more. Never did he expect Viktor to still be there. He had to admit, even if it was to himself, that he felt as though that was his answer.

Perhaps it also had something to do with Viktor’s stubbornness. Or something to do with his own rush to where they were to meet. Maybe it was purely fate.

Whatever it was, it helped Yuuri understand a little of what it was he was feeling.

“A little?” Phichit questioned. There was a discontented twitch from his lip, eyes hard as he glanced over his phone. “Why forgive him at all?”

“He was apologetic,” Yuuri replied, knowing that there was no way he could describe everything that he was thinking to Phichit. Not because he wanted to keep it, but because he didn’t know how to say it. “He really was sorry.”

“A lot of people have been really sorry for what they’ve done to you before, but that doesn’t mean you accept them.”

“I didn’t love them like I love Viktor. He deserves another chance.”

“You give people too many chances.” Phichit paused for a moment before he set his phone down. “If he breaks this last chance, I’m going to personally make his life a living hell.”

Yuuri smiled at his best friend. “I don’t doubt you. But believe me, I’ve already warned him that this is his last chance.”

“Have you warned him about your sister yet?”

“No, but I’m pretty sure he already understands that threat.” Phichit didn’t reply, but rather picked up his phone and began to type again. Clicking on the keyboard of his phone, the tweets and the ringing and the pings filling the cool evening air. With a raised eyebrow, Yuuri asked, “You’re still going to be keeping an eye on him, aren’t you?”

“Yep,” Phichit answered, popping the ‘p’.

“Is there anything I can say to stop you?”

He shook his head. “If Viktor wants to prove himself to me and gain my trust again, he better do it while he’s completely unaware of my watching him.” He threw a sweet smile Yuuri’s way as he continued typing.

“So, I’m not to tell him?”

“Nope. Interestingly enough, however, there’s a rumour going around about him.”

Yuuri leaned forward in his chair, setting the collar down onto his lap. “Rumour?” Even the mention of the word now set his heart racing, anticipation pumping through his veins.

But Phichit’s face seemed more curious than a raging storm. “Apparently, he’s sold the collar on and gained millions from it.”

Both sets of eyes fell to where the collar glittered in his lap. Yuuri had even gotten a professional to check it on the day he had been going to meet Viktor behind his house, out of fear that Viktor might have given him a dupe, but no. The one in his lap right now was the real one he had given to his dog years ago. Viktor had not tricked him there.

“A lot of the thieves that were going after you are now trying to find leads on who he sold it to in hopes of being able to get it from them,” Phichit continued. “That explains why it’s suddenly gotten quiet around here.”

Yuuri ran his fingers over the metal of the collar, feeling the cool surface warming underneath his touch. “What else does it say?”

“Not a lot. There isn’t much that’s been found out. Viktor stole the collar from you and sold it on, without so much as a warning, apparently. He’s pissed off a lot of people. JJ being one of them.”

Yuuri furrowed his eyebrows. “JJ? Weren’t they working together?”

“Apparently not. JJ’s family is really pissed.”

Yuuri paused. He remembered Viktor telling him that he had been tricked, and on some degree he didn’t believe it. He began to as he spoke to Viktor, more so when he saw the truth on his face. This was only more proof, and Yuuri began to feel like accepting Viktor was going to become the right decision.

That Viktor was the right decision.

“What do thieves usually do when they’re annoyed with another thief… family?” He remembered Guang Hong mentioning about them being families, as if they were something more than people that stole. As if they had no control.

Phichit shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t really know. I don’t suppose it’s going to be good.”

“No?”

“It’ll probably be messy.”

Yuuri began to feel nervous, a wave of shakes sifting through his body. He knew there was a lot about the world of thieves that he didn’t know, and there was a lot that he didn’t want to know, but he began to find himself more curious now that he knew Viktor was a part of it. “Like, fighting or something?”

Phichit watched him carefully. “I’ll try and find out for you, Yuuri. I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

“I mean, thieves are trained to steal things. They wouldn’t really know how to fight would they?” Yuuri tried to reason, but then he remembered that there shouldn’t have been any reason for him learning how to fight, and yet he did.

“I wouldn’t rule it out, but I’m sure Viktor can look after himself.”

Yuuri nodded, though he was just as unsure as Phichit sounded.

***

He thought that the return of the collar and the fake rumours of it being sold somewhere else would calm some of the issues that had risen recently. The extent of his problems should have been meeting with Viktor and trying to get close to him again after everything they had been through, as if they were meeting again for the first time, trying to learn each other once more. Slowly, he knew the distrust would fade away if Viktor proved himself enough. _If._

He hid the collar again, in a place he hoped was better hidden this time. He locked it away and vowed that he wouldn’t go back to it for years, just to try and avoid any wandering eyes. It was too important to lose again. He was simply hiding it, and yet it felt as though he was closing something off, a part of him that he had been clinging onto for years. Something was simmering inside himself.

He spent hours wondering if it was time to clean away some of the evidences of Vicchan. Perhaps it was time to let go, he thought. Keep only the collar. Keep only the thing that had significant value in his memories. He threw the bed out. He even got rid of all but one chewed up coins, the last of which he hid with the collar. By the time he had finished, no sign of Vicchan was left.

His family didn’t ask. The staff didn’t ask. But it seemed as if the air had cleared some. He hadn’t realised how stagnant it had become in the last few years.

He thought it was turning a new page in his life, a page in which he could focus solely on his and Viktor’s relationship. Other things were in the past.

But not everything was freed. There was something niggling at the back of his mind. There was something that hadn’t quite settled. He wasn’t sure what that was until he ventured out for the first time in a long time.

He walked the town with Yuuko and Phichit, window gazing. The hairs on the back of his neck kept prickling from the moment he had left the gates of his home. It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling. In every rich party he had gone to, the feeling never left him – other families watching him, giggling and whispering behind hands, catching his eye to make sure he knew they were doing it, words muttered venomously towards him. Being watched was not a new feeling.

He thought that this was the same thing. He knew the rich were talking about his family. They hadn’t attended one of the gatherings that took place far too many times – so said his father – and he knew it was stirring some trouble. Usually, the rich hid the fact that they had been stolen from because of the shame of it. Yuuri wasn’t. He kept to himself, but it was clear he was not denying the rumours. The man he had been dancing with, turning out to be a thief that stole the treasure that had stirred so many of those rumours that occupied their times. No doubt he would be the topic of hot gossip for a long time.

A few of them were watching him as he walked the streets. He knew that by the end of the day, every single rich family would know of his movements.

But it wasn’t just that. There was something more. The stares of the rumour-chasers were always laced with hatred. The stares that prickled the back of his neck were more calculated. Every time he glanced behind him, there wasn’t anything there. He knew it wasn’t just paranoia, however.

It continued all day until he got home, passed the safety gates into his property. He decided he’d ask Viktor about it.

***

The next time he met with Viktor, it was different from anything else he had ever done. Viktor texted him, asking if they could meet. Yuuri agreed without much thought.

He met Viktor in the middle of town, feeling the skin on his body crawl as he felt the same stares. Glancing around, he saw no one looking at him this time. This early in the morning, most of the rich were still in bed, being catered to by their vast staff.

Yuuri knew he needed to speak to Viktor about it. Perhaps he would know about it – Yuuri knew that the odds were that the other man would definitely know about it.

Viktor was on time. He came strolling down the street, dressed in casual clothes but still as if he had spent hours sifting through his wardrobe to find something. Almost effortless, and yet somehow still. Everything seemed to fit Viktor so well, whereas if Yuuri did have any sort of interest in fashion he would still need to cater to his body, so he thought. He glanced quickly down the lines of Viktor’s body, momentarily lost and forgetting the thing he had been wanting to talk about.

He snapped out of it when Viktor got closer. He grabbed Yuuri’s hand and smoothed his skin with his thumb, smile as bright as the sun peeking over the horizon in an early morning. Yuuri was almost blinded by his brilliance.

“Yuuri,” Viktor greeted, voice doing things to Yuuri that he knew were showing on his face. His cheeks felt hot. Viktor continued, “You look just as beautiful today as always.”

Yuuri diverted his gaze. “Have you seen yourself today? You’re the beautiful one.”

Viktor curled his hand around Yuuri’s, intertwining his fingers. “I could spend the whole day here complimenting you, but I have other plans.” He began to tug Yuuri down the street.

Everything else that might have been sitting in his mind suddenly disappeared as he felt Viktor’s warmth in his hand. He had to admit to himself that he had missed this, despite everything he had been through. Holding someone else’s hand didn’t feel the same as the one he was holding now. No one else could be the same presence. No one could ever replace it.

“Other plans?” he asked, pulling himself back from his senses. He followed after Viktor willingly, a little shocked with himself over the fact that he didn’t seem to care where it was they were going.

Viktor threw a smile over his shoulder. “You wanted to know more about me, didn’t you?”

“I still do,” Yuuri replied, trying to keep the accusation out of his voice.

“Well, the best way to do that is to show you where I’m from.”

Yuuri blinked. “Is that okay?”

Viktor turned away and continued to lead him down streets and alleys. “Of course.”

“And your family are fine with it?”

It was answered by silence.

Yuuri felt the corner of his mouth pull into a smirk. “They don’t know, do they?”

“If they did, they wouldn’t let me do this. Well, Yakov wouldn’t. Mila’s been wanting to meet you for some time now. I’m not sure how it’s going to go, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Yuuri couldn’t help but think Viktor was trying to convince himself. “Will you have to blindfold me or something?”

Viktor seemed to want to make some sort of lewd comment about that as he glanced over his shoulder, but curiosity won over. “Why would you need to?”

“So I don’t know where this place is?”

They reached a car that was parked at the other side of town. It was sleek and pink with no roof, glistening under the light of the sun, almost like new. Viktor opened the passenger door for him like a gentleman. Yuuri couldn’t help but feel his heart race at the sight as he slowly went to sit.

Viktor closed the door softly behind him and moved around the car to sit in the driver’s side, pulling some expensive sunglasses from the compartment behind the gear stick and placed them on the bridge of his nose.

“I trust you,” he said. “Yakov would say otherwise. He’d be having kittens if he knew what I was going to do. But I don’t care. Yuuri, you mean a lot to me, and I’m tired of hiding myself from you. I want you to see everything.”

Yuuri felt a rush of relief from his words, a tightness in his chest that could only mean he was moved. So far, Viktor was on the right track of gaining back his trust, though Yuuri couldn’t help but feel nervous at the thought of meeting Viktor’s family – not only were they his family, however, they were thieves. Before JJ and Viktor, Yuuri had had no interaction with a thief.

“You know,” Yuuri said as the engine began to purr, roaring to life under the careful hands of Viktor. “For a thief, this isn’t exactly a subtle car.”

Viktor smiled as if he had heard it before. “Chris gives me trouble for it too. He said someone in my position should be buying sleek black cars with blacked out windows, not pink convertibles. But what can I say? I’m not subtle in anything I do.”

The rush of the wind flowing through his locks had Yuuri relaxing into the leather seats. “Who’s Chris?”

Viktor nervously rubbed the back of his neck as he began to drive out of the town, up north. “He’s my best friend. You’ll probably meet him. He lives in the same building as us. He’s…. he’s very unique.”

Yuuri didn’t want to say that he expected that – Viktor was very unique, and so anyone who was close to him had to be too. He felt happier knowing that these names he knew were going to soon become faces too. “Do you think I’ll get on with him?”

He could almost see the shiver running through Viktor’s body. “I’ll probably be outnumbered.”

Yuuri smiled brightly. He was beginning to get excited, a need to get there as quickly as he could. He wanted to see this unique friend. He wanted to see the strict leader called Yakov, or the girl that was like a sister to him, or little teenage Yuri, or the brother that loved art. Yuuri wanted to see them all.

“But first, I’m going to bring you to my apartment. There’s someone else I want you to meet.”

If Yuuri didn’t know better, he’d have begun to suspect something odd was going on. In any other context, it might have sounded as if Viktor had another live-in lover. But Yuuri knew Viktor better than that. He knew better than to misunderstand. “Viktor, that sounds weird.”

Viktor threw him a small smile as they pulled onto the carriageway. “I have another member of the family that I haven’t mentioned. I thought… I thought it might not be something I should say, because of you and Vicchan. But I have a dog too, and I’d like you to meet her.”

His heart fluttered. “Really?”

Viktor avoided his gaze. “Is that not something that you want?”

Yuuri slipped his hand on top of Viktor’s thigh and squeezed, comforting the panic he could see running through Viktor’s eyes. “I’d love to meet her.”

“Really?” Viktor asked, voice small. “Are you sure? I’d understand if you didn’t want to, especially after what happened-”

“What’s her name?”

“Makkachin.”

“What’s she like?”

“Cute. A little loud. Likes to tackle people. And probably a little lonely because of how many times I’ve been away from her recently. Chris has had to look after her a few times for me.”

“I’m sure she’ll be very happy to see you.”

“Yeah,” Viktor agreed. “And she’s going to be so excited to meet you too. She’s probably sick of hearing me speak about you constantly.”

Yuuri couldn’t help but laugh at the comment. “You speak to her about me?”

“Of course. I’ll have you know she’s a brilliant love advisor. She was one of the first to tell me I was an idiot if I let you go.”

Yuuri hid his smile behind his hand, turning to view the trees as they flew by the car, wind whistling beside them. “She sounds like a wise girl.”

“She is. She’s one of the most important things in my life.”

***

Viktor had warned him about the leaping, but he didn’t expect how bad it was. He could hear the scrabbling on the other side of the door when they reached Viktor’s apartment, a bark shattering the quiet.

“She’s going to be excited. So, please be careful,” Viktor warned.

He opened the door and Yuuri felt a force slam into his chest. He flew backwards, landing surprisingly softly against the wooden floor, a big weight sitting on his chest.

Before he looked at her, he remembered that this weight was quite a bit bigger than Vicchan used to be. The area was bigger, paws bigger where they sat on his chest, breathing louder. He looked at her, and he fell in love almost immediately.

She was just like Vicchan, but their colouring different, Makkachin a lot bigger than Vicchan had been even at his biggest. He lifted his hand and ran his hand through her fur, surprised by how soft it was underneath his fingers. He couldn’t contain the smile that lifted his lips.

Before he knew it, Makkachin was being pulled from Yuuri by Viktor, pulled back into the apartment.

When she was safely contained back in the room, he held a hand out for Yuuri to take. “I’m so sorry about that. I told you she gets very easily excited. And I’ve been speaking about you so I’m sure she just wanted to say hello.”

Yuuri felt his smile grow at the tone he heard Viktor use when speaking about her. If he had any doubt before that giving the man a second chance was a bad idea, he knew it was the right thing now. Perhaps that was ultimately why he had decided to give the collar back – because if anyone knew how important it would have been to Yuuri, it would be Viktor, who had his own dog that he loved with all of his heart.

He took Viktor’s hand and accepted the help up. “She’s beautiful,” he complimented, unable to keep the cooing from his own voice.

Viktor’s cheeks coloured slightly at the praise. “And she’s a bad girl too. I’m sorry she did that.”

Yuuri shrugged and brushed the dust from his clothes. “It’s one way to meet her.” He could hear her scrabbling at the other side of the door again, whining when they didn’t immediately open the door for her.

“I’ll hold her off this time until you’re in the apartment,” Viktor promised. “Ready to go and meet her properly?”

“That doesn’t even have to be a question,” Yuuri replied.

Viktor did as promised and held the pup off as he allowed space for Yuuri to get in. Yuuri had a moment to admire the space. It was clean and sleek, filled with furniture that Yuuri already knew was expensive – he had seen enough of it in his lifetime from parties and events in the houses of the other rich in town. The back wall was made completely of glass, overlooking the town with an impressive view.

That was all he managed to take in before he was being tackled once more by a large fluffy pillow.

“Hello, Makkachin,” he greeted, running his hands through her fur again, chuckling as she barked back a greeting. “Lovely to meet you.”

“I think she likes you,” Viktor commented. He moved towards the open-plan kitchen, calling over his shoulder, “I’m going to get a drink. Do you want anything?”

“I’ll have a water,” Yuuri said in between the lunges of Makkachin and her attempt to lick his face. “Is she always like this?”

“Only because you’re new,” Viktor replied, pouring them some drinks. “I think she’s going a little stir crazy in here. All she ever sees are either me or Chris, and I’m sure she’s getting a little sick of it.”

“Does she not even go on walks?” Yuuri collapsed against one of the chairs sat before the bright window. Makkachin immediately shoved her way onto his lap, insisting that he accept her presence. He didn’t push her off. He hugged her close and giggled when her tongue lolled from the side of her mouth.

“Chris takes her out for walks for me every day. But the route he takes is quiet because otherwise she gets too excited.”

She began to calm underneath his touch, only lunging every now and again when he stopped stroking her. Otherwise, she settled her head on his stomach and began to lull herself into a light slumber.

“So, when do I get to meet this Chris?”

Viktor set his glass of water on the table beside him. He settled himself down on the chair beside Yuuri, rolling his eyes. “Honestly, hopefully not for a long time. He’s going to take every opportunity to ridicule me.”

Yuuri grinned. “But?”

“But he knows you’re here today and I think it won’t be long before we hear a knock at the door.” Viktor took a sip of his own drink. “And he won’t be the only one.”

“He won’t?”

“I only told him, but I am willing to bet all of my assets that he has also told Mila. And Georgi. And Yuri. And by them knowing, Yakov will know too.”

Feeling the nerves beginning to rise underneath his skin again, Yuuri asked, “So, the whole of your family might be coming?”

“I’d change ‘might’ to ‘will’.”

As if they had been summoned, there was a series of knocks at the door. Some were soft, while others were rushed and slammed, as if someone had jumped their whole body against the door.

Yuuri jumped in his seat. “They’re already here?”

“I didn’t even invite them,” Viktor replied before rolling his eyes and stepping towards the door. He made slow steps, as if he was trying to lengthen the time where they were alone.

Didn’t invite them? Yuuri didn’t understand for a moment until he realised what Viktor meant – being thieves, they probably kept an eye out for everything. They probably knew the moment that he and Viktor had come into town, and the moment they had gone to his home. They had probably gathered all of their things and rushed as soon as they could.

There was some mumbling on the other side and another series of knocks that had Viktor sighing.

“Yes, yes, I’m coming. Calm down, Mila,” he said, reaching for the doorknob.

Yuuri hadn’t heard any talking, but something warmed in him seeing that Viktor know his family well enough to know who had knocked on the door with no other information. But nerves began to rise inside him as well, remembering that these people were what Viktor was. A thief.

Thieves.

The word still left a sour taste in his mouth, and if he was honest, he hadn’t quite come to terms yet that Viktor was one as well. He wanted to talk to the man about it, but he wasn’t sure where he even stood yet. Did he mind it? Did he want Viktor to stop it? Did he want to become the wedge between Viktor and his thief family? He couldn’t stop remembering what Guang Hong had said, about thief families being very close, strong, just like real families.

He couldn’t imagine someone like Viktor getting in the way of him and his own family. He knew what his answer would be if it ever happened, and he would side with his family, whatever the situation.

He cast the thought away just as the door opened.

He knew that the person Viktor was, his family couldn’t have been straightforward. They would not be calm or lacklustre. They were going to be loud. They were going to be too much. They were going to be extra.

And that was exactly what Yuuri got.

The first to stroll in was a young boy, mid-teens Yuuri would say. He was wearing a leopard print hoodie, the hood pulled up with his long blond hair cast over his face and hands stuffed into his pockets. He was wearing mainly black. He stared at Yuuri the whole time, a glower so strong that Yuuri felt the hatred almost radiating off of him. He sat down opposite Yuuri, threw his legs out to land his thick boots against the glass coffee table, pulled out his phone and scrolled trough it. Even through that, he never took his eyes off of Yuuri.

The second was girl, younger than Yuuri again. She had short red hair, was tall, and a lot more greeting than the smaller boy. She moved to stand before Yuuri, eyes glancing over him before giving him a smile covered in lip gloss and waved at him. He waved back, though a little more unsure.

The third was a man a little older than Yuuri, a haircut that Yuuri could only describe as a triangle, and dark clothing that Yuuri would say best fit in a pantomime or even a painting from a hundred years ago. He had eyelashes that Yuuri couldn’t help but notice, long and thick, and he gave Yuuri a quick smile before he stood beside the window, looking as though he had been pulled right from some sombre television show.

The fourth was another man around the same age, moving fluidly as if the laws of physics didn’t apply to him. He had short air, a sultry look in his eye as if he was waiting for his next prey to come into his sights, and a smirk that promised well-kept secrets. He sauntered into the middle of the room, glancing at Yuuri before he moved to the kitchen and began to pour himself a drink. Yuuri didn’t fail to notice that he poured himself nothing but a hefty glass of wine.

The final person to enter was a man that Yuuri was almost immediately intimidated by. He wasn’t much taller than Yuuri, but his presence was a thousand times bigger, power radiating off of him in waves. He was scowling even before their eyes met, before even he had come properly into the room. In many ways, he reminded Yuuri of Viktor. Something about the way they moved, the way they watched him, the way that they carefully took every step as if they knew that it was going to change everything if they made the wrong move. When their eyes did meet, the man turned and faced him straight on, regarding him.

From everything Viktor had told him, Yuuri was pretty sure he knew immediately who they were. He could finally put names to faces.

But it didn’t settle him.

Most of them, he could only recognise them as thieves from the way they walked silently, just like Viktor. He doubted they even knew they were doing it. Or the way that even here, even somewhere it was meant to be safe, they glanced around the room as if they expected some sort of threat to emerge.

But it was Yakov that he could see was a thief upon first glance. There was no doubt.  

Yuuri felt himself already growing nervous and overwhelmed.

Viktor must have sensed it. He moved to stand beside Yuuri and settled a hand on his shoulder, squeezing. Smirking, he glanced at them all and quipped, “No need to be so nervous, guys. Make yourself at home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little more domestic this one... I thought it was deserved after a long time of it being tense and unsure... XD 
> 
> It's not long now until the end. As you can probably see, I don't have an end chapter limit yet, mainly because I hadn't got one because I've not had time to plan out completely, but there really isn't long left! Beware!
> 
> You can find me on tumblr   
> [Here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	21. Good Luck, Viktor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by ucho whynikkiwhy

Viktor was about ready to jump out the window.

True that it was pretty solid and would not come out from its frame, and without an opening, there was hardly a possibility that he could do it. A bullet could barely make it through. But he still entertained the idea.

His body was wracked with nerves. He was aware of every little thing, like how loud his kettle was as he boiled some water for a coffee, or like how the coffee table still had one spec of a stain from the last time he had placed a drink there but had missed while cleaning, or the way people stood around the room as if they were uncomfortable.

He knew it was going to thin his hair, this situation. It was why he had tried to avoid it for as long as he had. If he wanted to introduce Yuuri to his family slowly, it would never happen that way – once one heard, the others would come, and there was no way to separate them all. Viktor knew it would have been better if he had done it one by one, especially with Yakov there too, but his family were unstoppable.

Perhaps Yuuri might have been more comfortable if they had done it in a more familiar location – not Viktor’s place where Yuuri hadn’t been before. He wondered if Yuuri was feeling a little threatened.

A quick glance towards the younger man had Viktor breathing a little more freely. Yuuri seemed fine, though a little suspicious of the way Yurio was eyeing him.

“Yurio,” Viktor sighed. “Stop it. You’re being rude.”

“You’re the one being rude,” Yurio grumbled, turning his glare to Viktor.

“What?” Viktor was vaguely aware of Chris collapsing himself onto the seat beside Yuuri, crossing his legs and taking a small sip as if this was going to be the most interesting television series he had seen for years.

Yurio almost looked as if he wanted to throw his phone out at Viktor in outrage. Instead, he dropped his hand and almost seemed to snarl, “For getting a boyfriend with the same fucking name as me.”

“Do we have to start this again?” Mila complained, coming to sit on the arm of Yurio’s chair. “Yuuri doesn’t have the ‘o’ in his name.”

Yurio turned his gaze to her. “Neither do I!”

“Calm down, kitten,” Georgi added, coming over to smooth a hand through the teenager’s hair. Yurio pulled back, slapping his hand away, and yet the older man didn’t seem to feel it. His gaze was elsewhere, peering into air as if he was lamenting something no one else could see. “No one has control over their name.”

“He can fucking change it and that’ll fix it,” Yurio hissed.

Viktor wasn’t sure Yuuri knew what to make of what was going on yet. His eyes were flickering between them all, expression an impassable wall, and yet there was something shining in his eyes that had Viktor feeling both nervous and happy. The fact that Yuuri hadn’t run out of the place yet must have been a good sign, especially with how Yakov was eyeing him.

“Or how about you suck it up?” Mila asked.

“You suck it up!” Yurio snarled.

As they continued to fight, Viktor leaned in closer to Yuuri to whisper, “I’m really sorry. They’re pretty loud.”

Yuuri gave him a small smile. “It’s not too loud yet.”

“They haven’t started yet,” Viktor replied, to which Yuuri’s eyebrows raised considerably. “Why do you think I am like I am?”

Viktor didn’t expect it to be such a loaded question, but the words brought a smirk to Yuuri’s smile and he asked, “You mean loud, attention-seeking, extra and like a child?”

A little surprised by the response, Viktor could only blink in reply. Chris, who had overheard, began to quietly chuckle in the seat he sat as he watched them, taking another sip.

“Yes,” Viktor replied after a while, unable to stop the smile that rose on his own lips. “Exactly that.”

Makkachin decided to make herself known then, barking before she rose from where she slept in the corner of the room in her basket. She brushed up against Viktor’s leg before she moved to sit at the bottom of the sofa, resting her head against Yuuri’s lap.

Viktor felt himself warm at the idea. He didn’t want to admit it, especially as it had only been a few minutes since his family had walked through the door, but seeing them all together like this, in his apartment, made him feel like things were going to be okay for the first time in a long time. It made him feel as if he didn’t have to separate the both, that he didn’t have to feel as if he was caught between the two, that he could see both of them melting into one. He knew he needed to talk to Yuuri about what he was and how it tied in with everything, how he felt speaking to his family knowing what they were, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it right now.

Not when everything seemed to be at least a little bit calm.

That was until Yakov decided to speak. He leaned in his chair, resting his elbows against his knees with his hands clasped together, a way that he had taught Viktor years ago to radiate a power regardless of if they had it or not. He was eyeing Yuuri carefully, as if he was waiting for Yuuri to behave defensively.

“Yuuri Katsuki,” he began, voice just barely audible over the sound of Mila and Yurio arguing. “It’s hard to believe that your family would go as far as it did for a collar.”

Viktor was immediately defensive in Yuuri’s wake, moving to almost stand between them. “We agreed, Yakov, that no talk of this was going to appear today.”

“It’s an honest question,” Yakov replied, turning his gaze on Viktor.

“It wasn’t a question. It was an aggressive statement.”

“I’m only concerned that they might be hiding something,” Yakov said slowly. “Because if they are, JJ might have a reason to show up again.”

Yakov wasn’t trying to rile anyone up. Viktor knew the man well enough to know that. He could be difficult but he was not a horrible man. He was concerned. But he didn’t understand the meaning behind the collar like Viktor did, and Viktor had no place to tell him.

Yuuri must have felt the tension because he lifted his hand to squeeze Viktor’s. To Yakov, he said, “And if we did have anything else to hide, you would not be the first to be told.”

The statement was followed by silence, in which Yuuri and Yakov stared at one another, not wanting to be the first to look away. Just as Viktor was about to say something, feeling the way his heart was hammering violently inside his chest, Chris stood up with an empty glass.

“I’m going to get more, anyone want a glass?” He pointed to Yurio. “Not you.”

The teen scowled. “I wasn’t going to ask for one anyway.”

“Good. Stay innocent.”

Mila laughed, slapping a hand on Chris’ shoulder. “That’s a lot for you to say.”

The tension and silence lifted, and Viktor was relieved to find whatever war was going on between Yuuri and Yakov had stopped. Yuuri was watching the interaction between Viktor’s family, a curious raise in his eyebrow.

Viktor felt himself breathe a little easier.

He wanted Yuuri to see what his family was like. He wanted him to see that thieves weren’t just thieves, that they were people like Viktor and his family. That they didn’t hurt people. He thought it was a good way to get Yuuri to understand a little bit more about him that he had been keeping from the younger man – Yuuri wanted to know Viktor, then Viktor was going to give him everything. But he was so scared that Yuuri would leave again. People had told Viktor before that he was a lot to handle, and he knew his family weren’t any less chaotic.

Bringing Yuuri to meet his family was both the beautiful rose and the thorns that came with it.

“They’re very loud,” Yuuri commented as Mila and Chris fought over which wine should be poured in the kitchen. “Do you ever feel like you’re going crazy?”

Just as he asked it, Yurio and Yakov began to get into an argument about something Yurio’s cat had done. Viktor rolled his eyes. “That’s a constant state for me. Why do you think I got my own apartment, separate from them?”

“Good move,” Yuuri replied.

“They’re not too much for you, are they?” Viktor asked quietly.

Yuuri shook his head. “I have people like Phichit, Yuuko, and my sister in my family. I’m pretty sure I’m trained enough.”

It was a joke. Just something said to assure him. But Viktor felt himself melt at the words. It meant Yuuri wasn’t considering separating, that he could handle this, that he could handle what they had become. He might not have meant it quite like that, but Viktor took it that way anyway, feeling the knot in his chest beginning to loosen. It only helped strengthen his thought when he noticed the way Makkachin cuddled closer to Yuuri, and Yuuri’s hand smooth its way into her fur.

Mila sat down with her new glass of wine, topped so high it was almost pouring out from the lip. She took a sip, crossed her legs, and fixed Yuuri with a steady gaze. “Tell us more about you, Yuuri.”

“What would you like to know?” Yuuri asked, staring back.

“What are you even doing with Viktor? You could do so much better.”

“Mila,” Viktor began, slightly aghast by her comment. He should have expected it really, though in the worry of how Yakov would act, he had let it slip his mind.

“I agree,” Chris added before he could say much more, sitting on the sofa beside Yuuri, taking a sip of his own generously-poured drink. He leaned closer to Yuuri, sending him a wink that Viktor knew was a dangerous. “There are others out there that could treat you well, in more ways than one.”

“Chris-” Viktor tried to argue, but Yurio shouted above him.

“There are fucking minors here!”

***

It wasn’t until the late hours of the evening that they finally left. Even then, they said goodbye and it was a further hour before they actually found their way out of the door. At that point, Viktor was almost pushing them out.

He could hear their voices still drifting through the hallway. He didn’t fully relax until the hall was quiet again. He collapsed against the door, exhaling all of the stress from his lungs.

From where he sat on the sofa, Yuuri chuckled. “Well, that was a fun day.”

Viktor sighed louder. “Just shoot me now.” He managed to drag himself to sit beside Yuuri, enjoying the silence now that it was settling, looking out at the lights that reflected against the darkness of the window. “Sorry if Yakov made you uncomfortable at any point.”

Yuuri waved the comment away. “He was a shock at first but it was pretty easy to get used to him then.”

Viktor was surprised to hear it. Hardly anyone could get used to Yakov, much less someone who had only met him once. “I’m still sorry. He said some unnecessary things.”

“Easy to ignore.” He smiled at Viktor. “Your family were nice though. Totally not what I expected.”

“I did try to warn you.”

“You did. I still don’t think anyone could prepare for them. But I don’t think anyone could prepare for mine either.”

Remembering how he had felt when Mari had threatened him, and how unprepared he had been when meeting Yuuri’s parents, Viktor couldn’t agree more. Carefully, he took Yuuri’s hand and stroked his fingers over Yuuri’s skin, trying to piece together a question in his mind. “So, does this answer some of the questions you had?”

“About?”

“About us. About what I am. About everything.”

“It does,” Yuuri replied honestly. His expression didn’t give Viktor what he wanted to know, but he knew that it wasn’t his place to know just yet. Viktor had placed everything in Yuuri’s hands, and he was going to leave it at that.

“I hope Makkachin didn’t sway the decision too much,” Viktor joked, hoping it would lighten some of the mood he himself had set.

He was rewarded with a bright smile from Yuuri. “Makkachin could sway any decision. She could be the ambassador for world peace.”

At the sound of her name, her eyes fluttered open, fixing onto Yuuri. Her tail wagged.

“She’s happy to finally see someone besides me and Chris,” he commented.  

“She’s a good girl.”

“Would you like anything to drink?” Viktor asked, feeling as if there was something he needed to do. Alone with Yuuri now, he was getting nervous again. He kept thinking that Yuuri would find an excuse to get away before too long, deciding that this wasn’t worth it.

They needed to talk.

He knew they needed to. He needed to think about what he was going to do. He doubted they could be together long if he continued like this, acting as if him being a thief was a forbidden subject.

He rose from the sofa and went to the open kitchen, getting out a glass. He wondered if he should pour something alcoholic or if Yuuri would prefer just water. He paused for a moment, and before he thought to ask, arms were wrapping around his waist and a body was pressed against his back. He jumped slightly. He’d been so distracted he hadn’t even heard Yuuri stand or come over.

“You don’t need to be so nervous,” Yuuri said, pressing his cheek against his shoulder blades.

Viktor set the glass down and relished in the feeling of Yuuri, intimate, close like this, like they hadn’t been for a long time now. He never thought they’d get back to this, not after what he had done to Yuuri. He let a shaky breath out before he turned and hugged Yuuri close, as if he had been starved of attention, as if this was the last time he was very going to hug Yuuri. Yuuri held him just as close.

“Sorry,” he apologised. “I’m just so scared you’re going to leave.”

Yuuri didn’t say anything to that. Viktor doubted there was much he could say. He couldn’t promise that he would always stay with Viktor. He couldn’t promise that one day he wouldn’t leave. He couldn’t promise that everything was always going to be fine. But he couldn’t say anything that wasn’t a promise either, because that would sound like it was a spur of the moment thing.

Viktor hugged him closer.

Yuuri pulled away. For a moment, that sent Viktor close to panic. But that was before Yuuri cupped Viktor’s face gently in his hands, spreading his fingers to stroke his cheeks, gazing into his face as if that was where he only wanted to ever be.

The look in Yuuri’s gaze calmed everything in Viktor, better than any words could.

“I’m scared too,” Yuuri admitted. “Of many things. It’s not going to be easy. We’re going to need to talk about a lot of things, Viktor.” He punctuated the last sentence with a raise of his eyebrows and his voice turning hard. Viktor could only nod back, not moving too much so that Yuuri’s hands remained where they were. “But we’ve decided to give this a second chance, and I for one don’t make decisions lightly. Do you?”

Viktor shook his head. “No. This isn’t something I’d ever take lightly.”

“Me either.” Yuuri smiled gently. “We just need to be open and understand where we stand. I’ll be honest in saying I don’t like what you are. I don’t like what your family are. I don’t like that this is how you make your living. But do you hurt people?”

“Hurt people?”

“If you were stealing something, and a family happened to find you before you could get out, what would you do with the witnesses?”

Viktor thought about that. It hadn’t happened – at least not without him taking some precautions such as a disguise or a mask. Mila, ever the attention-seeker, had been caught a few times though on the security cameras of a bank.

“Yakov just buys them off with money, treasures or favours.”

 “So, you don’t hurt them?”

“No. That’s never part of the job.”

Yuuri smiled wider. “Then that’s good enough for me for the moment. You know, there’s an interesting rumour about you going around.”

Viktor’s eyebrows knitted together. “Rumour?”

Yuuri leaned closer. “Apparently, you sold the collar on for millions. You did it without warning, and all the other thieves are really annoyed about it.”

Viktor didn’t know what to say about that. He had passed that rumour on, but he hadn’t intended for Yuuri to hear it. He began to wonder how Yuuri had heard of it at all, especially as the rumour hadn’t spread to the families in Yuuri’s circle yet. But that thought flew away when Yuuri was so close, when their eyes were staring into one another and their lips were so close.

“That’s an interesting rumour.”

“Isn’t it? I wonder who could have spread it?”

Viktor felt the quirk of a smirk pull at his lips. “I wonder?”

“And apparently it’s made JJ’s family really annoyed too. Turns out neither of you were working together.”

Viktor relaxed. This wasn’t an accusation. Somehow, Yuuri had found these things out, and Viktor became thankful that he had. It had probably helped Yuuri reach the decision to forgive him in the end. “I told you that.”

“You did, but it’s nice to have the evidence too.”

“That’s true.”

Yuuri leaned forwards and pressed a gentle kiss against Viktor’s lips, the hands cupping his face holding on a little tighter. As he pulled back, he said, “Thank you.”

Viktor was already feeling a little breathless. He knew he had gone a long time without this, and it was making him feel giddy. “For what?”

“For making that rumour. Even when you weren’t sure what we were going to become, you turned the attention away from me.” He moved his arms so that they were circled around Viktor’s neck. He leaned his whole body against Viktor. “It’s things like that that prove to me that you’re worthy of being forgiven.”

Like a starved man, Viktor leaned forwards and pressed a more aggressive kiss to Yuuri’s lips, never wanting to part.  
  
***

This was what paradise was. This was what he had been fighting for. This was what made his heart beat.  

Waking up next to Yuuri, seeing the way the light was cast over his body, the way the blankets were resting against his bare hip, the way his eyelashes pressed softly against his cheeks, the way his fringe fell over his face, the way he grabbed for Viktor when he felt Viktor shift as if to get away. The warmth beside him was something Viktor had missed greatly. He missed Yuuri’s little unintelligible noises when he was deep in sleep, making to move as if he was about to speak. He missed the way his eyes fluttered open and the way Yuuri’s eyes immediately found him. He missed the shy smile that Yuuri gave him as a morning greeting.

“Morning, beautiful,” Viktor greeted back, unable to stop the smile that tugged at his own lips. It felt great to be back here, and he hoped it stayed like this. He knew he’d be stepping carefully, just to ensure that he never made a mistake again and lost this.

Yuuri stretched until his hands were almost touching the bed post, curling around the wood, igniting thoughts in Viktor of last night and what they could do for next time. “Morning,” Yuuri replied. He rolled onto his side. “Your bed is very comfortable.” When Viktor gave him a look, he moved quickly and threw a pillow at his torso. “I mean to sleep in.”

“It is,” Viktor replied, chuckling as he placed the pillow back. “But it’s better when you’re here.”

A blush flushed on Yuuri’s cheeks and Viktor decided it was his new favourite colour. He wanted to bathe canvases in that colour, paint art on his walls in that colour, get bedsheets that would perfectly match his flush.

“Well, aren’t you the smooth talker?” he chuckled.

“Only for you,” Viktor replied, moving forward to press kisses against Yuuri’s face. He began with Yuuri’s forehead, then moved down to the top of his nose, then to his cheeks, his eyes, his temples and finally to his lips. There, he lingered, pressing and pressing until Yuuri was almost laughing. “Only ever for you.”

***

Saying goodbye to Yuuri in the middle of the day hurt him. He didn’t want to let go, not now that he had Yuuri back, because he kept thinking that this might be the time that Yuuri wouldn’t come back. He knew he would but Yuuri had all the right to go back on his decision, and there would be nothing that Viktor could say or do against it.

He shut the door and cuddled Makkachin close. He thought about Yuuri walking through the street, where he would be now, if he made it home safely.

He was fine, Viktor thought. Yuuri was strong. Yuuri was very good at the things he did, and Viktor knew the man could fight. He wasn’t stupid. He was always aware of things going on around him. He had proved it time and time again when they had been together before… before the mistake, and more so during and after it. Viktor knew the man could fend for himself.

“You liked him, didn’t you, Makka?” he asked, hoping that it would distract him some from the longing that was growing in his heart.

Makkachin barked back, wagging her tail excitedly.

“Yeah, I think he liked you too.”

He set to working some of his chores before he got himself too distracted thinking about Yuuri again. He cleaned his apartment after the mess his family had left it, including the place on the sofa that Yurio had almost wiped his hands clean from food, where Mila had dropped some wine onto the floor, where Chris had thrown the pillows about, and where Georgi’s face imprint had been left on the glass as Yurio had pushed him against it to get to the kitchen. Yakov had been the only one to leave everything as it was, including taking himself to the kitchen to clean any utensil or cup he had used.

Viktor stripped his bed and washed those, wondering if he’d need to do this more often now that he and Yuuri were together again, now that Yuuri would no doubt be visiting his apartment more. He wondered how he was going to show himself to Yuuri’s family after all that had happened. Last they saw him, he had been begging on their library floor.

Well, he thought, where there was hope, there would always be trials. He had no doubt that he would have to make it up to Yuuri’s family, especially to Mari if he didn’t want to wear his lungs as a headpiece.

He heard his phone ring from the kitchen. He left the bedroom and picked it up. A smile grew on his lips when he saw Yuuri’s name written across it.

“Yuuri!” he said, not hiding an ounce of his excitement at hearing from the other man. It had only been an hour, but it lit up his life to hear from Yuuri.

“Viktor, have you been to town lately?”

His excitement ebbed away. Yuuri didn’t sound as he had this morning. He sounded rushed, urgent. Viktor’s mood soured, worry filtering in. “Not since I picked you up.”

“Don’t go to town. Don’t go anywhere. Actually, don’t go anywhere.”

Viktor’s training kicked in. He rushed to lock his door, setting the alarms on, checking to make sure that he remembered where his weapons were. Everything was in place. “Why? Yuuri, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Yuuri assured. “I’m not in any danger. But this isn’t about me. You need to talk to your family.”

“Yuuri, why?” His heart was already racing.

“There are wanted posters of you all over town. Actual photos of you, Viktor. You’re probably going to be on the news. There are some of your family too, but more of you.”

Viktor shook his head, not fully comprehending. He was always so careful. He hadn’t been caught before. His family certainly never had been.

“I’m sorry,” Yuuri continued. “It must have been one of my staff. Maybe it was one of the ones that saw you that night, and saw you begging. Or something. I don’t know.”

But Viktor knew the answer. “It wasn’t one of them.”

“What?”

“It wasn’t one of them.” Even with them he had been careful, only having to buy off a few. He was always very careful.

“Then who was it?” Before Yuuri finished the question though, his voice stopped, as if he suddenly realised it himself.

As if he knew, as if he somehow knew that Viktor was in contact with Yuuri, as if he knew this was when Viktor found out, a phone call began to come through, buzzing against his ear. Viktor checked the name.

JJ.

“I’ll call you back, Yuuri,” he said, knowing he had cut Yuuri off in something he had said, but he could see only red. He accepted JJ’s call, and asked, “This is how you do it?”

 _“Did you find them?”_ The pride in JJ’s voice was evident,

“You’re a coward.”

On the other end, JJ began to laugh. _“I told you. Any way I could. You sold it off. You made everything I fought for come to nothing. So, yes, this is how I do it.”_

“Why did you have to bring in my family?”

There was a second of long silence before JJ whispered, _“Because you’ve damaged the reputation of mine as thieves. Good luck, Viktor.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This again was a little shorter than other chapters. I've been so busy that I didn't manage to do the last 700 words! I'm sorry but I thought it was a good place to end it anyway! haha 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> I'm on tumblr  
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	22. He Must Have

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter beta-read by english-ace whynikkywhy

They were everywhere. On walls. On lamp-posts. On windows. On bins. On shop windows and trees and even on the pavements. They were flying through the wind. Everyone was picking them up. Everyone was looking at Viktor’s face on a poster.

Yuuri thought of picking them up and hiding them, but he knew there would be no hope. By now, half the town had probably seen them. They were probably already on the news. Viktor and his family wouldn’t be able to go anywhere.

They were good pictures on the wanted posters. They were clear and they were obvious. Every part of their faces were there to see. No mistakes. No hiding.

Yuuri felt his heart racing inside his chest. It was thumping so quickly that it was aching against his rib cage, almost jumping into his throat, pressing at the back of his eyes. The colours on the edge of his vision were pulsing.

He’d called Viktor, but he felt like it was too late. He knew Viktor’s family could take care of themselves – he knew that before he had met them, and it had only been cemented the day before. If they could get through being thieves, then they could get through all of this. Moving could fix it. Waiting until the fire burned away would fix it. Changing names and faces and disguising themselves would fix it.

But that didn’t mean anything. Yuuri could only think of the here and now and right here, right now, Viktor was in danger. He didn’t like what Viktor was, but he didn’t want to see Viktor and his family being taken away for it. He didn’t want to see the flashing red and blue lights, the metal around his wrists, the bars between them.

When their call ended, it didn’t help Yuuri’s thoughts. He wandered down the street, hands shaking, glancing around as his paranoia settled in again. He was convinced people were looking at him. They would come for him, even though he hadn’t done anything. They’d come for him because he knew Viktor. Because they were close. Because they could probably get information from him.

He rushed home, taking deep breaths to make sure that he didn’t panic. He wanted to call Viktor right back and ask what he was going to do, what was going to happen, where this put them. He wondered if this would be where Viktor would have to disappear without a word.

But he didn’t call. Viktor was getting things done. There were probably steps he needed to take now. He’d just have to wait for the call.

No matter how long it took.

If it wasn’t one of his employees, then he knew there was only one other person that it could be. One other person that he didn’t know how to find, how to get in contact with, even if it was only just to punch him in the face for what he had done.

But there was nothing he could do.

So he would wait. He would wait for Viktor to do something. Or for JJ to do something. Or for Phichit to do something.

He had never felt so helpless before.

He thought being able to learn how to fight would help with his problems. It wasn’t much use when there wasn’t anything to fight.

With all the thoughts swirling through his mind, he wasn’t ready for his sister to ambush him at the door. She had her arms crossed, eyebrow raised. “How did it go?” she asked.

Yuuri had wanted to tell his family a lie of where he was going when he had left yesterday. He knew they would be worried that he was going to go and meet Viktor, more so if they found out he was going to go to Viktor’s family. He wouldn’t need to tell them that they were all thieves. That would go without saying. But he couldn’t lie to them.

“It went okay,” Yuuri replied. Mari must have heard the quiver in his voice.

“What did he do?” she asked.

Yuuri shook his head. “He didn’t do anything. It’s not him. It’s… Well. Are you going out to town any time soon?”

She narrowed her eyes, as if she wasn’t sure what he was asking. “Not planning on it. Why?”

“Just… you’ll find out then.” Yuuri made to move to the steps, but stopped when his sister followed.

“Why, Yuuri? What’s going on?” When he didn’t reply, Mari continued, “Are there rumours going around again?”

“Not yet. But there will be.”

“Yuuri,” she began, starting to sound concerned, but Yuuri interrupted her.

“One of the thieves that Viktor knows has outed him and his family.”

“Outed?”

“As thieves. There are wanted posters of them all over the place.”

Mari paused for a moment, opening her mouth as if she was going to speak but unsure of what she was going to say. It took a moment, swallowing her words before she said, “Does he know?”

“I’ve told him.”

“And… what’s he going to do?”

Yuuri shrugged. “I don’t know. He had to hang up to do something.”

“Right. Is he okay?”

Honestly, the question surprised him more than it should have. He had never heard Mari express concern for Viktor before, and it distracting him for a moment before he remembered what was happening. He took a moment to come back to himself.

“Yeah, he’s fine,” he replied. “I think. He said he was going to call back.”

There must have been something in his face because Mari rushed to assure him, “It’s going to be fine. I’m sure he’s just busy with loads of things to do and steps to take and he’s going to call back as soon as he can.”

Yuuri nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure. I’m going to go and…” He paused, thinking that he should probably wait in his room for the call. But that would mean he got trapped in his own head, thinking only of when Viktor’s call would be. Thinking that he couldn’t do anything. He gripped the bannister harder. He turned around. “I’m going to go and practice.”

He spent the rest of the day in the make-shift dojo at the back of the house, training until the sweat was beading along his collarbones and his fringe was hanging in front of his eyes, until his breath was difficult to draw and he thought he could fight against the ones that were doing this to Viktor.

***

Viktor didn’t contact him until the middle of the night. Yuuri had been in an out of sleep, searching his phone, waiting to see his name. It wasn’t until late, very late, that he finally saw it. The chime had woken him up from his short slumber.

At first, he was about ready to curse at the person that had woken him up, but he almost jumped out of bed when he realised that Viktor’s name was the one staring back at him. He ran his hand through his hair, reading the words from the text but being unable to actually process it. He quickly grabbed his glasses and tried to re-read it.

_Have had to go away for a while. I’ll be back soon._

It didn’t register at first. Yuuri blinked and read it again. When only a few words processed, he read it again until he understood them all in some sort of odd order. When it did all finally click into place, he felt something fall apart.

_What do you mean?_ He texted back, fingers shaking as he typed rushed. He stared at the screen, and when nothing came back for thirty seconds, he texted the same thing back. He repeated them over and over for two minutes before he got another reply.

_I’m okay, Yuuri. Just need to go away until things die down._

_But they won’t die down soon. It’s only just started._ He knew how things went. He had been the butt of rumours enough to know that they didn’t die down easily. They took their time, burning slowly, rolling through a destructive path until it left nothing in its wake. It would only die out once it was satisfied with the pain it had caused, and then it would find something else to move onto.

But those hadn’t been illegal. Yuuri was rumoured for hiding things. Viktor was rumoured to be a thief that stole things and sold it for money. That was going to take longer to die out. That would most likely be the talk of the town for years to come.

The thought alone had Yuuri beginning to panic. If he had any worries of if he had forgiven Viktor at this point, he knew this would assure him.

When Viktor didn’t reply, he typed out another message. _How long do you think you’re going to be?_

He waited a minute. And then he waited another. Then five, ten. And more. But Viktor didn’t reply. Yuuri had said he wouldn’t call Viktor, but in that moment, his mind fogged with sleep and worry, he pressed the call button. It rung. It rung over and over until the sound could almost echo in his head.

Viktor didn’t reply.

***

The rumours spread faster than anything Yuuri had seen before. They were on everyone’s lips, more wanted posters spread about. There were stories from people about them having met Viktor at parties. Many were untrue. Many said that Viktor had stolen things from them, though he hadn’t. Many said that they had seen him stealing things from the hosts or threatening people. They spread until there wasn’t any way to differentiate between the truth and the lies anymore.

For once, Yuuri wasn’t the main target. There were a few, here and there. People remembered that they had been seen together, and they remembered about the dances, the parties, the times that Viktor had reportedly been seen to walk into their house. But that was all. Others had been seen with him too. Rumours of Viktor with others weren’t as popular as the man himself, the thief, the guy that had apparently stolen things from every party and even stolen the necklaces from people’s necks.

That was all this town was. Rumours. It was built on lies and spite. It created dances in parties, hands held, connections made, isolation. It created politicians. It broke families. It replayed memories that never needed to come back.

Parties had been dangerous before, but now they were worse. Now they made Yuuri hate the people there more.

He had done as he always did, stood beside the food and drink table, phone in hand, waiting. There was hardly any dancing on the dance floor, strangely. There were usually at least a few couples that started it off, insisting that the party shouldn’t be just about gossip circles. No such thing this time. The air was filled with the cackles of the rich and famous, talking about their anecdotes, jokes made already about the thief that had shared parties with them.

Yuuri wanted to go home, but every so often they all turned to glance at him, eyeing him up, whispers badly hidden behind closed hands. He knew they would notice as soon as he left. If he wasn’t the target of those rumours now, he would be if he left.

But it wasn’t only that. He had met Viktor at one of these parties. For whatever reason it was that Viktor was there, they had met there and they had danced and joked. People remembered that.

He avoided all of their eyes as they looked at him. He drank sips of his drink, beginning with water that then moved onto the champagne flutes. Before he knew it, his fingers were tingling and everything got a little numb. The stares didn’t bother him so much anymore.

But that was until someone decided to be brave enough and face him. A man that had bothered him a lot in previous parties began to pace towards him, a smirk growing on his face. A woman walked with him, her head high, eyes glowing. Yuuri finished the drink in his hand and placed it back down on the table, considering if he needed another one to deal with what he knew was about to come.

They stopped before him, glancing at one another as if they had some sort of internal cue.

“Hello, Yuuri,” the girl greeted, elongating his name as if it was a mix of friendliness and an attack. “I haven’t seen you around many of the parties recently. Where have you been?”

“I’ve been at home,” he replied. Be vague, he thought as he tightened his hand around the phone. Be vague and maybe they’ll leave you alone.

She tilted her head. “But why? We’ve missed you.”

Perhaps it was the anger, or perhaps it was a little bit of the alcohol, but he said, “You never even talk to me.”

She gave a giggle, moving her hand before her mouth as if to act cute. “Were you jealous? Should I have paid more attention to you?”

“I liked it when you didn’t talk to me.” Her expression faltered a little, features turning dark, gaze turning like knives.

“That’s rude,” she said.

Before she could say anything else, the man stepped forward, placing a hand on Yuuri’s shoulder. He didn’t take it off, not even as Yuuri kept trying to shake it off. “We just wanted to talk,” he said. They crowded in, pushing him against the wall, keeping a little pace between them. “You don’t talk to a lot of people here, Yuuri. We were worried you were getting lonely.”

Yuuri didn’t say anything back. He knew he would just get them angry if he did. He didn’t want to make them angry when they were crowding him in a corner, when he knew no one watching right now would help him. It wasn’t that he was scared, it was more because he couldn’t be bothered to handle it. He reached around the man before him and took another flute of champagne. He took the first sip while keeping eye contact with the man.

“Why don’t you ever come talk to us?” he asked. “We’re here to talk to you.”

Yuuri still didn’t say anything. He took another drink.

“But instead, you went and talk to other people,” the girl continued, exchanging another glance towards the man beside her. Another smirk pulled at her lips. “You didn’t want to talk to us, so you went and talked to a thief instead. Not a good move, huh?”

He should have known it was coming to this. He should have walked away when he could have.

“Heard that thing that you were keeping a secret was stolen from you,” she said. “Was that him? Did he exploit you?”

The man continued, “We saw you dancing with him. Did you fall for him? Did you accept him into your bed? And then he took what was precious to you.”

It hadn’t been that long ago that Yuuri had thought the same thing, and yet it angered him that someone else was saying it. How dare they, he thought. How dare they see only the worst in Viktor. How dare they immediately assume what he was, based upon the damaging rumours, based upon almost nothing. Their ‘concern’ for Yuuri was thinly veiled curiosity.

“It must have hurt,” she said. “Did you see him take it? How did you know when he took it?”

They didn’t say anything, just waited for him to say something. He didn’t. The only time he opened his mouth was when he was taking another sip. He tried his best to ignore them, but it was difficult when they were hounding him like this, when they leaned so far forward that all he could feel was their breaths.

When it was clear that he wasn’t going to say anything, the man said, “And when he disappeared and sold it on, that must have really hurt you. Did he say anything before that happened? Did he tell you he never really loved you?”

So those were the rumours. Yuuri could almost roll his eyes at them. People would most likely be saying now that they had overheard some of Yuuri’s and Viktor’s conversations, all lies of course. They would be saying things that hadn’t been spoken, how they had declared love for one another, how perhaps they had heard them arguing. No doubt, someone would even claim to know what this hidden treasure was and they had seen Viktor with it.

“Has he been in contact with you?” the woman said. “Has he said something? Has he even sent something cryptic that only you would know about?”

“Why?” Yuuri asked, surprised by how calm he sounded. “Do you want to get some things stolen?”

Their eyebrows knitted together. It hadn’t been the response they wanted.

She asked, “So, you are in contact with him?”

Yuuri’s hand gripped around the phone in his pocket again, a need beginning to grow inside him, wanting to check it again despite the fact that he hadn’t felt the buzz or heard the chime. “No,” he replied. “Despite what you might think, or what others are saying behind my back, no.” They seemed about ready to argue against it. They probably had heard some other rumours – someone was probably saying that they had seen him with Viktor recently. That could easily be truth or lie, but either way, Yuuri wasn’t going to say anything. He interrupted them before they could say anything, “But you are more than welcome to go and search for him. I’m sure he’d love a lot of the things in your bedroom. A lot of sparkly things, a lot that would sell.”

There was nothing like threatening the safety of precious objects of the rich to be able to annoy them.

They both glared at him. She said, “I have them protected.”

So did I, Yuuri thought. It sounded a little bitter. He knew he had forgiven Viktor, but there was still something there, the same part of him that wished he wasn’t what he was anymore. “You’d be surprised what thieves can do,” he said instead. “And there are more around than you think too.”

Tired of their pressing, he left them with that and pushed passed them. For a second, he thought that they would not have allowed him, but they left him with hardly any effort to keep him there. He found his way to another drink table at the other side of the room and took another flute, taking small sips. He wanted to go home.

***

The police called at the house a few days later, two of them. One was an older man, the other a young recruit. Yuuri’s father invited them into the library and brought in food for them to have, steaming cups of tea settled beside them.

“Thank you for inviting us in,” the older one said, taking a sip from the hot tea. “I’m officer Cialdini and this is my rookie partner, Altin. We have a few questions to ask you all, if that is alright.”

“If this is anything about that thief, officer,” Yuuri’s father began, sitting himself in the seat opposite the police, “then there isn’t much that we can tell you. What you have probably heard is all there is to it.”

Officer Cialdini nodded but kept his stern expression. “I understand, but I would still like to hear it from your own mouth. Perhaps there is something that can help with our investigation.”

Yuuri watched the way the younger recruit began to write something down in his notebook, as if every word that was spoken between them was important. He felt unsettled. He and his family hadn’t talked about it, about what this meant, about the real elephant in the room. His family could easily give away the things they knew about Viktor and what had happened between his family and the thief. But Yuuri knew already that they wouldn’t, and his father’s words had only helped with that fact. The reason they were protecting him was most likely for Yuuri’s sake.

“Then what would you like to know?” Mari asked, leaning against the window frame with her arms crossed. She’d make a good investigator, Yuuri thought. She had that stare, that imposing attitude, the silence that could get anyone to spill their every dark secret.

“I’d like to conduct individual interviews after this, if willing,” the officer avoided, glancing to Yuuri quickly before he corrected himself. “You are a family that had the most contact with the thieves. We’d like to know everything, even if it seems like a small clue to you.”

For a moment, Yuuri worried that they might be able to take his phone and see the messages between him and Viktor. It felt heavy in his pocket, as if it weighed larger than all the gold bars in the world, hot against his leg and obvious to everyone around him. He reminded himself that they couldn’t do anything like that without legal precautions. It helped him breathe, but only just.

“How far with the investigation are you?” his mother asked, bringing in a plate of hot biscuits she had been baking since that morning. Sometimes, Yuuri was convinced that she knew when a visitor was coming over – despite who they were, there was always food. Even upon Viktor’s first visit, there had been cookies.

“That’s confidential,” Officer Cialdini said. Beside him, Altin continued to scribble until the sound of it began to grate on Yuuri’s ears.

“Is there any danger for us?” Yuuri asked.

The officer fixed him with a stare, careful at first before it eased into something more relaxed and assuring. “Not at all. We’re making the rounds of asking the families that attended some of the same parties that Viktor or any of the other thieves attended.”

“And naturally, you’ve heard some of the stories that the others have had to say,” Yuuri replied, unable to stop himself from being a little bitter, remembering the last party he had been to. The accusations, the push, the rumours. “So, you make your way to us.”

The corner of Officer Cialdini’s mouth pulled up into a smirk. As if the gravity of the situation suddenly reared itself again, it faded away. “You were the one that had the most contact with Viktor. No matter what those rumours have said, they all share one similarity, and that is that everyone saw you and Viktor together, at more than one party. You were seen talking and dancing. You’ve been seen out of parties too. He’s been here.” He took a moment to let the words sink in, eyes fixing themselves on Yuuri for longer than was probably necessary. When he felt as if the cloud had sunk enough to cause concern, he continued, “I don’t listen to rumours, especially not from the families that I have spoken with today. I know what they are like. I listen to facts. And the fact is, you had an intimate relationship with him.”

Yuuri wanted to demand that the young officer not write that down, but he suspected that might have been more suspicious than if he left it alone, and no doubt it would be written down later or it had already been written. He swallowed down his annoyance and said, “Had.”

The officer’s eyebrows knitted together. “Excuse me?”

“Like you said, I had one. I don’t anymore.” He hoped that the officer couldn’t hear the lie in his voice. He tried his best to keep it away, though the emotion of everything that he and Viktor had been through recently seemed to bleed through without him being able to stop it.

“Not since what he did,” the officer filled in for him.

Yuuri gave a shaky nod. “Yes, not since what he did.”

“Is it true? Did he sell whatever he took?”

Yuuri shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t contact him to ask how it went. I don’t know if he sold it, or how much he got for it if he did. Maybe that’s something you can ask him yourself.”

Mari took a step forward, drawing the officer’s gaze back to her. “Accusing Yuuri like this isn’t going to help you find the thieves. Ask him actual questions, not just to satisfy your curiosity.”

“They’re all important questions,” Officer Cialdini assured calmly. “I am not trying to upset anyone. I just need to know the facts, and what happened from your side. Did he pressure you for anything? Did he threaten you or blackmail you?”

Yuuri shook his head. “No. Despite what he was, he wasn’t the type to do something like that. He got what I was hiding because I stupidly trusted and told him, not by darker means.”

The officer nodded. The rookie continued to write everything down.

Officer Cialdini said, “I understand this must be difficult for you. When we find him, if we find what he stole from you too, then we will return it back to you.”

“I don’t think you’ll find it on him,” Yuuri said, surer than the officer could ever suspect. “He wouldn’t keep it for long.”

The officer nodded, as if he suspected the same thing. “As a family, those thieves have stolen a lot. All together, the worth is probably millions. The exact figure is unknown, especially as they all seem to specialise in different things. We want to bring a stop to that.”

“I don’t know how I can help with that,” Yuuri replied. “I don’t know why you’re trying to appeal to me when I am of no use to you.”

Officer Cialdini leaned further forward in his chair, licking his lips, his pony tail cascading over his shoulder as he fixed Yuuri with a careful stare. “Did Viktor say anything, anything at all, the last time you saw him? Or did he say anything you might be suspicious of in your times together? He couldn’t have been spending that much time with you without letting something slip.”

“Why not? He was only ever after what I was hiding. Why would he let that job go to risk?”

“Some said that he seemed closer to you at parties than that. They said he seemed content, even in love.”

“Acting,” Yuuri replied, feeling as if the word burned the surface of his tongue. It was a thought that had plagued his mind since that night, and was only just beginning to fade since reconnecting with Viktor again. “Thieves have to be good actors, after all.”

“Many seem sure that he wasn’t.”

“And these many are the same that seem sure of rumours that are based on lies,” Yuuri stopped him before he could continue. “They are good actors too.”

The officer seemed ready to say something in reply, but stopped when he saw the look in Yuuri’s eyes. He glanced to where his partner was writing on the paper, considering something for a quiet moment, before he nodded and turned back to Yuuri. “I understand. It must be a hard topic for you.”

Yuuri smiled at the officer, though even he could feel that the smile was forced, pulling at his lips in a way that was humourless. “That’s an understatement.”

As if they somehow moved as one, a foreign language silently spoken between them all, his family moved forward. His mother took the cup of half-drunk tea from the officer’s hands and gave him a sweet smile, while his father opened the library door and his sister ushered them towards it.

“I’m sorry, officers,” his father said, smiling just as sweetly as Yuuri’s mother, “but I don’t think there’ll be time for those individual interviews. We’re a busy family, and frankly, none of us want to participate. I’m sure there is someone else out there who would better help in your endeavour, but for the time being, please leave my family alone.”

Without any fuss, the officers were shown the way out and waved goodbye, despite their obvious disgruntlement at being thrown out before they could ask all that they needed. As they walked down the long drive, towards the patrol car they had left at the gates, Yuuri and his family watched from the manor steps.

“Thank you,” he told them all. Without having to tell them everything, they supported him and understood where he now stood with Viktor. Perhaps it wasn’t the decision they all wanted for him, or the one that they would have made in his place, but it was his decision all the same, and they supported him for it. He would never be able to thank them enough for it.

“How is Viktor doing with all of this?” his sister asked, leaning against the door frame.

Yuuri shrugged. “He’s gone into hiding. I’ve not heard from him in a while.”

“Laying low,” his father added. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. His family must have plans in place for an event like this.”

“Yes,” Yuuri agreed, though he didn’t sound too sure himself. “He must have.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just by doing some quick planning, I believe there might be about three chapters left, give or even take... I just... yeah XD Like with every story I do, I really don't want it to end... but other projects need to begin too I suppose! haha 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> I have a tumblr   
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	23. Let's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by my father whynikkiwhy

Withdrawal was far more destructive than a lot of things Viktor had ever come across before. It pulled at his heart, tearing and squeezing as if someone had a hand around it, tightening its grip with every thought he had of Yuuri and the home he had been forced to leave.

He hated sending vague texts to Yuuri, hated that he couldn’t reply, hated that he was forced to leave Yuuri in the dark about stuff like this. He knew the other man deserved more than that, but there was nothing he could do. Who knew who was listening in? Who knew who was keeping an eye on Yuuri? Who knew what else JJ had done?

Viktor had his hand in protecting the other man, and he had made sure that JJ hadn’t hurt him before he allowed Yakov to take him and the rest of the family out of town. JJ had only hurt Viktor and his family’s reputation, not Yuuri’s. He hadn’t sent a storm his way. It was only then did Viktor allow himself to be taken from town and create that distance between Yuuri and him. But it didn’t help the withdrawal inside of him. He wanted nothing more than to assure Yuuri, to tell him that he was going to be home soon, where they were both safe, where they were going to be okay.

But it wasn’t. As soon as Yuuri had phoned him with the news, to let him know that there were posters of him all around town, Yakov had caught wind of the information from another branch. He evacuated them from their place, taking all the evidence from their walls and their offices, and rushed them into a vehicle that he informed would take them far away. No less than a few hours later, their place was bombarded with swat teams and detectives.

Viktor was still in contact with things that were happening in town. He knew that JJ had had to evacuate his own home too, because some of the things he had done had backfired. The people he had informed of Viktor and his family had turned and started asking him questions too. JJ and his family had disappeared. And yet Viktor still felt cheated – the Leroy family didn’t have their faces plastered on the walls and the buildings, covering every surface.

Viktor was still aware of things happening there, but there was a wall. His reactions felt slower. If something happened, he felt as though he wouldn’t be able to stop it. If Yuuri was in trouble, he worried he wouldn’t be there in time.

That was the worst thing that JJ could have done to him. The other thief had known exactly what he was doing.

They hid out in a small hunting lodge that Yakov had bought from a farmer years ago with the intention of using it for storage. Because of this, it was mainly empty, most of the plumbing gone, the walls thin and no way to track. Now it made for a good safe house.

There was nothing to do while Yakov was gone, fixing the mess that Viktor felt was his fault. The others hadn’t said that, but he felt it. If he had dealt with JJ sooner, if he had stopped seeing him as a child that could only hinder a tiny bit of his plans rather than a monster that could ruin his relationship and his family, he would have done something sooner. Now it was too late to think about.

There was little to do in the hunting lodge than to plan revenge. As the grandfather clock ticked in the corner, most of the workings inside torn out to make room for storage, he imagined plans, numerous amounts, correcting every mistake that rose, forming plots until it was perfect. Every problem was smoothed over, every kink ironed out, every tear sewn until he knew that he could do something against this man.

Yurio, who was growing slowly angrier with the lack of internet and phone availability, kept throwing a ball against the wall, harder and harder until the sound bounced across the room. It was slowly getting Mila angrier too, her hand tightening into a fist, eyes following the ball as if she wanted nothing more than it to explode in Yurio’s hand.

Viktor could feel the tension. He himself was sitting in the corner, almost grinding his teeth as he thought about each passing second, thinking about the distance between himself and Yuuri. The only one that seemed to be taking it okay was Georgi, who was drawing something on his notebook, humming a slow song to himself. He didn’t seem to notice the way that the rest of the family was filling the room with a fog of tension.

“Where the hell is Yakov?” Yurio asked, his voice tight.

“He’s gone out. Again,” Mila replied, her voice just as tight.

“Why? Why can’t we do anything? It’s our problem too. Why is he out there dealing with it alone?”

“Because we’ll only get in his way if we did anything. He knows what he’s doing.”

Yurio caught the ball and slowly turned his head to Viktor, fixing him with a glare that promised a horrible comment. “Viktor should be helping him too. It’s his fault we’re in this mess, after all.”

Viktor rolled his eyes and sighed. Yurio hadn’t made it a secret that he was angry with Viktor, making snide comments here and sending glares his way. Viktor didn’t try to reply to those comments, knowing that he would only throw more fuel on the fire and Yurio would most likely dive straight into his teenage angst. There would be fists flying, words that wouldn’t be taken back, _couldn’t_ be taken back.

He didn’t reply this time. He knew from the way that Yurio was looking at him that he was waiting for Viktor say something, just to be able to fight back.

“Keep your mouth shut, Yurio,” Mila snapped. “We don’t need you making comments. It’s neither the time nor the place.”

“Then when will there be a time and a place?” Yurio asked, shifting in his chair to confront Mila, voice steadily rising. “If a time like that comes, make sure you tell me because I have a lot to say.”

“How about keeping it to yourself? You’re not a kid anymore, Yurio. Stop acting like one.”

Viktor flinched. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Georgi flinch too, turning his face away as if he couldn’t bare to see it.

That was the bad thing about all of them hiding in one place. The short comments and the anger settled in not even an hour after they had been confined to a small room to hide. Viktor knew the fear was only igniting it, the unknown, the worry that Yakov could be caught out there. They had plans in place for issues like this, of course they did, but it didn’t mean that they had ever expected to use it.

Honestly, Viktor was still surprised that JJ had done it. He’d even put himself at danger to do it. It was almost an unspoken, unwritten rule that no matter how much a thief family hated the other, they were still the same thing and protected one another – even if protecting only extended so far as to not out the other. It was as simple as that, and yet JJ had gone passed the line just because he wanted to get back at Viktor.

If Viktor was honest again, he didn’t understand the extent of JJ’s feelings, why he went so far. He had always wanted to overcome Viktor. A lot of people did. And yet it angered him that Viktor had become distracted? Viktor had tried to stop understanding it, knowing he never would.

“Go on, Mila,” Yurio hissed. “Remind me again of how I’m not a kid but not an adult like you either. So what am I? I’m only an adult when it’s _convenient._ I’m only a kid when it’s _convenient_ too. I steal just as well as you do!”

“It isn’t a competition!”

Yurio stood up, throwing the ball against the wall so hard it bounced back, slamming into the door, falling to the floor and rolling until it bumped against the coffee table. “If it’s not a competition, then why does it feel like one? You make one bank heist bigger than the last, get so close to being caught by the police just to show how easily you can evade them. You compare how much you steal to how much the clothes I steal are worth. How is that not a fucking competition?”

Georgi stood, holding out his hands. “Okay, maybe we need to all calm down. I understand we’re all worried but-”

“And you!” Yurio exploded, turning to him. “All your fucking art and your art collectors! The bigger the artist’s name, the more you sell it for and the more you try next time. You’re making this a competition too!” He turned to Viktor, fire raging in his eyes that Viktor knew could not be calmed down any time soon. “And you only go for the rare, unique things. You’re tying to be the best too. You all say this isn’t a competition, but it is! You’ve all become so fucking conceited you don’t even try to beat other families anymore, we’re trying to beat each other. You all underestimate me, you especially, Viktor.”

Viktor stood too, holding out his hands as Georgi was, feeling as if he was dealing with a bomb ready to explode. “Okay, we have a lot to talk about then,” he began, trying to calm the mood, but he must have said something wrong because Yurio burst into humourless laughter.

“ _Now_ you want to talk? After everything that’s happened? _Right now?_ We could have used that before JJ outed us!”

It felt like a punch to Viktor’s gut. He knew there had been a lot he should have talked to his family about, but at the time, he was caught between Yuuri and his upbringing. “I’ll fix it-”

“Why did you keep it all to yourself? When everything was going to shit, why didn’t you say anything?”

Viktor swallowed, finding it hard to do because of the lump in his throat. Yurio was the last person he expected to be told off by. He knew he could have avoided so much by telling them what was happening, and Yakov could have set up plans and escapes before this happened. “I should have warned you all, I know. I’m sorry.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Yurio shouted, making them all step back in surprise. “You could have talked to us. We could have helped. You didn’t have to do it by yourself. You could have talked to me!” Yurio stormed out of the door, into the small kitchen on the other side and slammed the door behind him.

“That was… unexpectedly nice of him.”

Mila tried to say it to break the tension that followed, and yet she didn’t sound too sure about it either. Georgi sat back down, Mila crossed her arms and glanced out of the window, and Viktor stayed where he was, staring at the door that Yurio had gone through. The walls were thin and the door had a massive gap underneath. He could still see Yurio’s shadow pass underneath, hear the boy trying to fix together something.

Viktor felt worse. Not only for making Yurio worry, but also for not even thinking of Yurio as someone that he could talk to about his problems until now.

He sat back, bit his lip, and thought of a way to finish this.

***

It was dark when Yakov came back. Viktor almost all but pounced on him as soon as he walked through the door.

“How did it go?” he asked. “What did you do?”

Yakov looked tired – at least more tired than he usually did. He seemed ready to collapse into the nearest chair. “Give me time to walk in through the door, Viktor. I’m hungry. I’ll make something to eat and then we can talk.” He slumped into the kitchen, grumbling to himself.

Viktor fidgeted, desperate to hear Yakov’s report. He knew he wasn’t the only one waiting, seeing the way his siblings stepped forward, circling the man as if he was some sort of meal himself. He must have felt it, and yet didn’t say anything as he began to throw something together for food.

Viktor was beginning to feel agitated. He wanted nothing more than to finally get out of this room and to go out and see how Yuuri was. He wanted to know how things were outside, where JJ and his family were. He could only do that once Yakov was distracted. Then, and only then.

After what seemed like years, Yakov sat down with a sandwich before him. The others followed suit and sat down, watching him, unblinking. Yakov hadn’t even finished his last bite before Viktor was descending on him again.

“So?” he asked, a little harsh in his own approach. “How did it go? What did you do?”

Yakov set down the plate and sighed. “Nothing much happened. I’ve been trying to bribe the police and the hunters, but there’s not much I can do for the people who have already seen the posters. It’s caused a lot of damage.”

Viktor knew he shouldn’t have felt guilty, but he did. “Anything else?”

Yakov fixed him with a steady stare. “Not yet, no. That is all that has been taking up my time. If you want a different result, go out and do it yourself.” He flinched, realising his own words, and rushed to correct, “Actually, no, you’re not going anywhere. You might make things worse than they are already.”

Viktor leaned back and crossed his arms, hoping that his plans couldn’t be seen on his face. He knew how well Yakov could read his face – he wanted this to be the only time that he couldn’t, the only time that he fooled Yakov properly.

Yakov nodded towards the others, saying, “And you all keep an eye on him. The last thing we need is Viktor out in the open.”

“It’s not like I’ll lead anyone here,” Viktor replied, a little outraged.

“No, you wouldn’t,” Yakov agreed. “You’re too good at your job. You wouldn’t lead anyone here, unknowingly or knowingly, and you’d never give anything away either. But that’s not why I want you here and not out there.”

Viktor’s eyebrows knitted together. “Then why?”

Yakov leaned forward, unblinking as he stared. “Because you have this uncanny ability to make poor decisions that affect the rest of us. The police are going to be keeping an eye on Yuuri and his family, and they’ll be watching the town. I have no doubt you’ll not be spotted, but you have bad luck. Something would happen. Something would go wrong.” Viktor was about ready to argue, but Yakov interrupted, “Not to mention I know what you’d do anyway. JJ and his family have gone missing, Viktor. Leave them alone.”

“They were the ones that did this to us,” Viktor argued, beginning to feel the embers of anger beginning to rise in his chest again.

“And we can get back at them. But when their guards are down. When we’ve not done anything for so long that they think we’ve forgotten. When they’ve come out, started falling back into old routine, when they’ve let things slip again and when they’ve become so cosy back in what they enjoy. Then we strike.” He paused, letting the words float in the air between them, before he said, “You’re a lot of things, Viktor, but patient isn’t one of them. Perhaps for your job, but nothing else. The faster you can rush into things, the better, but that isn’t how we’re playing this.”

Viktor reluctantly nodded, avoiding Yakov’s stare. He understood where the older man was coming from, and he knew that he did rush into things – he had rushed into this with Yuuri, but that didn’t mean he would ever regret it. He wouldn’t regret what he was about to do either.

But someone like Yakov, who thought only methodically, would never be able to understand.

“I mean it, Viktor. No sudden moves – in fact, no moves at all, not until you contact me.”

“I understand.”

“I know you understand. You’re not stupid. I want you to tell me you’ll not do anything without my go-ahead.”

“I won’t do anything without your go-ahead,” Viktor repeated, feeling the words turn to ash in his mouth, reacting to the poison of his lie.

Yakov watched him carefully, trying to find the lie, but there must have been something Viktor was doing right because Yakov didn’t say anything about it. “I’ll be going out again tomorrow. I’m going to pull some strings from some of my contacts and try to see if there’s something more I can do. Until then, I need to sleep.” He stood and waved his hand across them all. “It’s a good idea if all of you went to sleep too. It’s going to be a long few months of hiding.”

Viktor waited until they had all gone to bed. He waited a little more, until the squeaking of their beds couldn’t be heard anymore, until their breath settled into something calmer.

One bad thing about having thieves as family members was the fact that they never truly slept. They didn’t sleep like the dead, they always had an eye open, and could wake at the smallest sound. But that was where his training came into it. Viktor had had to sneak out of their house often enough, and not yet had he woken any of his siblings. Yakov was the real trouble.

It took Viktor a torturous hour to be able to sneak out without any sight of Yakov waking. All doors and floorboards had been made to squeak just in case someone managed to come in, a sort of security that didn’t need a passcode or an alarm.

Even as he stood outside in the cool air, underneath the moonlight, he felt as though he hadn’t quite escaped yet. Yakov was going to be livid. In fact, he was going to be more than livid – Viktor may as well say goodbye to all of his organs. Yakov would most likely think that harvesting them and selling them on would be worth more than keeping him around. But this was something he had to do.

Yakov had hit the nail on the head when he told Viktor that he wasn’t patient – Viktor really wasn’t. For every moment that he was waiting to see Yuuri again, he could feel it clawing at his heart. For every moment that he knew that JJ was out there, ready to take another step when he realised that this wanted poster one wasn’t working the way he wanted, it made Viktor think of only the worst that could happen until it was filling his mind with darkness. He needed to do something, and as impatient as he was, as much as Yakov thought it was best that he remain hidden, he couldn’t do that.

As a thief, he didn’t know much about finding people. Items, yes. If he knew enough about the person that had hidden it, there was nowhere that someone could hide something that he wouldn’t find. As much as he hated to say it, that was part of how he had found Yuuri’s collar. But people. People were where the troubles came in. People hiding, it took Viktor longer to find them. They didn’t sit still. They weren’t always hidden somewhere precious. They lived and breathed and therefore, they knew when he might be coming and they’d have a chance to hide, unlike items.

Viktor knew before he even tried looking for JJ that he knew this wasn’t going to be a job he could do alone. He could contact Chris, see if his best friend could find the man – that was something Chris was good at – but he knew that if JJ knew anything, he’d be keeping an eye on him. He doubted JJ had thought that far ahead, but he wanted to be sure.

So he needed to enlist the help of someone else instead. There was one man he had heard whispers about, a man that was told to be one of the best informants of the town – no, of any within a hundred-mile radius. Some said further than that. If Viktor wanted to find JJ, then that would be where he stared.

He arranged to meet the new informer outside of town, in a small run-down place where the inhabitants were too busy getting drunk or shooting up to realise what was happening. If they witnessed anything, then there was an unlikely chance that they would understand what was going on to begin with. Viktor had made many dealings here. It didn’t make it any easier.

The man he was waiting for was standing in the shadows, leaning against the wall of an abandoned florist. As soon as he saw Viktor coming, he pushed himself off and revealed himself in the flickering lamp light.

He was smaller than Viktor thought he’d be. Younger too. He wondered if he had had the right man, but if the way he walked forward and grinned at Viktor was any indication, he knew he had the informer that he had been waiting for.

As they narrowed the distance between them, the man held out his hand. Viktor clasped it in his own and shook.

The man glanced from his head to his toes, the grin still on his lips. “Viktor Nikiforov, I presume?”

He said the name as if he had some sort of hidden agenda. Viktor wasn’t sure what he thought of him, and if the boy wasn’t promised to be one of the best people at finding things out, he knew he probably would have walked away from this meeting. “I am.”

The hand that was shaking his was quick and soft, not a calloused part. Viktor heard the ticks of his watch, almost felt the weight of the expensive metal against his own hand. Faintly, he could hear the chime of a phone coming from the young man’s pocket.

“And you are?” he asked. Perhaps it was an informer thing, he thought. They always liked to act as though they knew more about you than you even did, as if they had checked everything on him before coming to meet him. Viktor had no doubt that that was what this man had done. Who knew what he knew, and it didn’t comfort Viktor to know that.

“Phichit Chulanont.”

Viktor nodded, though he wasn’t sure what he was nodding at.

Phichit waited, as if he expected Viktor to know the name, or as if he was waiting to get some sort of reaction from Viktor. Viktor didn’t give one, but an internal struggle thinking that perhaps he should know who this man was. Before he could ask, the man let go of his hand and clapped his own together, grinning wide.

“Viktor, I think I’m going to enjoy working with you.”

Odd comment, Viktor thought. “You’ve heard of me,” he guessed.

There was a smirk in Phichit’s eyes that made Viktor more suspicious, but the young man said, “Who hasn’t at this point? The wanted posters are all over town. Your face is better known than our politicians’. Not that it took that for me to know about you, though.”

Viktor was waiting for Phichit to tell him where he had heard of him from, but when nothing more came, Viktor gave the boy a careful smile. “At least I don’t have to explain myself.”

Phichit shook his head. “Luckily, someone else has done the explaining for you. Otherwise, I might have had a very different opinion of you.” Before Viktor could ask what that meant, Phichit took out his phone and snapped a quick photo of Viktor, the flash almost blinding him. When the spots had finally faded from his vision, he gave Phichit a questioning stare, to which the young man replied, “I have to have some sort of evidence. If I go missing, they’ll know what my last contact was.”

“I’m not going to do anything to you,” Viktor assured.

“Oh, I know you’re not like that. But it’s sort of for my own selfish reasons too.” He tore his eyes away from Viktor and began to type something, his fingers flying faster than anything Viktor had seen before. Once finished, he turned to grin at Viktor again, placing his phone back into his pocket. “Shall we begin, Viktor?”

Finally, Viktor thought. JJ wouldn’t be able to hide for long. “Let’s.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh!!! Viktor is teaming up with Phichit, wonder what this will bring??? XD Probably chaos. Who knows really?? XD 
> 
> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Here is my [Tumblr](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	24. Run As Fast As You Can

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by me because life is busy and therefore didn't manage to finish the chapter until like two hours ago after work and then have to go back out into work in an hour so no time,  
> so if there are any mistakes (and there will probably be) blame me!

It was the last thing that Yuuri expected. Phichit didn’t often send pictures, and when he did, they were mostly of his hamsters.

Yuuri was used to getting photos from Phichit from different phone numbers too. He knew that a man in the job he was, he needed to be constantly changing. He needed to be careful. He needed to make sure that he couldn’t be caught. Yuuri understood that. And so he wasn’t phased when he saw that he had an image sent via an unknown number. He was surprised by its contents, however.

Viktor stared back at him.

He was immortalised in the photo, aghast with whatever was happening. His mouth was slightly open, eyes wide, a flash in his gaze as if he had just been caught. His lips were formed, as if he had just been about to say something, or he was still in the middle of saying it. For a moment, a crash of emotions flooded Yuuri. He felt relieved at seeing Viktor alright. A little tired, but alright. The bags underneath his eyes weren’t heavy or dark, just barely there. Yuuri almost wanted to smile down at his phone.

Another moment, he realised that there was no assurance that this was Phichit sending it at all. It could be JJ.

But as he scrolled down, he saw Phichit’s usual P.C at the bottom, a tag he left to assure Yuuri. He felt relieved all over again, thinking of how Viktor was in good hands.

It took a little while to dawn on him. Viktor. Phichit. Viktor and Phichit. Together. Viktor was meant to be hiding. Phichit was meant to be on a job.

Before the idea formed completely in his head, he was already pressing the call button with shaking hands. He was unsure if it was from fear or anger, but he was feeling both at the same time. They raged inside him, curling around his heart like a tiger around prey.

At first, Phichit didn’t pick up. Yuuri swallowed and glanced out of his window, watching the guards as they crossed his garden. Outside of the gates, barely visible underneath the foliage of the forest around his house, he could still see the police car settled beside the wall. Since Cialdini and Altin’s visit, the police had been making many visits, even if it was just outside the grounds.

Yuuri had been outside once to get something for his mother. They hadn’t been subtle in their following him.

He pressed the call button again.

Phichit answered this time.

_“Yuuri!”_ he greeted, as if he hadn’t just sent one of the most shocking photos to his best friend. _“’Sup?”_

“Let me talk to him,” Yuuri rushed. He would have felt guilty about the bite in his tone, had it not been for Phichit knowingly sending something so earth-shattering to Yuuri.

_“He’s not here right now. I send him off to get something for me. Want me to take a message?”_

“Stop playing, Phichit. What are you doing with him? He’s meant to be hiding.”

_“He is hiding. I’m helping him.”_ There was a crunch, as if Phichit was eating something. _“He sought out the best informer, and here I am.”_

“Why does he need you?”

_“Dear Viktor wants to end everything that’s stopping him from seeing you. The source of all that is JJ. We’re thinking up ideas to get back at him. It’s the best way to keep an eye on him, Yuuri. I accepted the job immediately.”_

Yuuri rubbed his forehead, settling down into the seat beside the window. “What?”

_“I said I’d keep an eye on him. That’s what I’m doing. He’s really funny, Yuuri. I mean, obviously not intentionally. He’s really stressed right now, and suspicious of everything. He just really wants to get back to seeing you.”_

“And he doesn’t know who you are?”

_“Surprisingly, no. I thought you’d have told him about me, I thought that was why he was asking me to help. Turns out it’s because he knows how awesome I am.”_

“I haven’t told him about you, of course.”

Phichit made a sound as if he was close to crying. _“You didn’t tell your lover about your best friend? I’m hurt!”_

“What are you doing, Phichit? Are you really going to help him?”

_“Of course! I want my best friend happy too. Also, I want JJ to pay.”_

“Tell me where you guys are and I’ll come too-”

_“Nope, no can do, Yuuri. This is sort of for the professionals.”_

Yuuri gritted his teeth together. “Phichit, if you think for one second I’m going to let the both of you get into trouble without me-”

_“Yuuri, we’re fine. We have plans going. We stand more of a chance than you would.”_

Yuuri knew that, but he didn’t like hearing it. He knew he wasn’t a skilled thief like Viktor, able to get through any guard without so much as batting an eye. And he knew he wasn’t an informant like Phichit, able to gather all intelligence and find out everything about a person. But he could fight. He had done a lot of things that others couldn’t. At this point, he didn’t care about what happened to JJ, as long as he got to stop it from hurting Viktor and that he got to see the man too.

“Then I’ll find another way to help you.”

_“Viktor’s really determined to do this quickly. No preparation, Yuuri.”_

“I’ve had to be pretty spontaneous lately.”

_“Not like this.”_ There was something in the background, another voice that even through the receiver that Yuuri recognised. He felt his heart thump in his chest, a longing clinging to him more violently than he had expected. He was about to say something when Phichit quickly said, _“Gotta go. Have a nice day and see you soon.”_ Instead of hanging up though, Phichit paused, as if mulling something over in his head before he said, a little more calmly, _“I sent you the picture to assure you, Yuuri. I want you to know he’s fine. And I’m going to make sure that he stays like that too. I’ll update you about the situation as often as I can. But it wasn’t an invitation.”_

Phichit ended the call and the chime that followed almost pierced Yuuri’s ears. He felt like grabbing his phone and throwing it against the wall, though he wouldn’t dare, not with how much it had cost. He decided to ring again, but Phichit didn’t pick up, not the first time, not the second, and definitely not the third.

By the fifth attempt, Yuuri decided that two could play at this game. Even Phichit couldn’t stop him.

***

Yuuri jumped into it without thinking about everything though. He found out pretty quickly that there was going to be a problem, and that was that he didn’t have the extensive network that Phichit did, nor did he know other thief families like Viktor did. The only thing he could think of was to get in contact with Guang Hong, but he didn’t know how, and no doubt that the man would be hiding with JJ too.

He didn’t know where to start.

He didn’t even know how Phichit formed his extensive network, or who might belong to it. If he wasn’t careful, Phichit would catch wind of what he was doing and stop him before he could begin.

The following hours after his call to Phichit, he thought of the best way to go about this. The police would be watching him, so he had to get around that. He couldn’t move around too much without someone noticing him. He couldn’t touch JJ unless it was through some way of finding him. Any contact he could use was gone.

There was only one thing he could think of. It was not subtle. If it didn’t work, it was going to be embarrassing, and not only would Phichit be annoyed with him but so would Viktor. He could potentially be doing more damage than good.

But there wasn’t anything else he could do. He wasn’t going to sit back and wait for Phichit’s updates.

The best part of the plan, he wouldn’t even need to leave his grounds for the time being.

He spent a further hour thinking it over, glancing back to the photo of Viktor on his phone, attempting to smooth over any issues that he could think of. After some food to settle his uneasy stomach, he decided it was the best plan he could get with the limited resources he had.

He stood at the front door, hand gripped on the handle, breathing slowly through pursed lips. He went through it again in his head, the plan swirling until he could feel it beginning to press against his forehead. He counted the seconds. He was aware of some of the staff passing, watching him carefully. Even the maid stood next to him had washed the vase on the stand ten times, feigning working while she kept an eye on him.

Someone must have informed his family, because next thing he knew, his sister and his parents were standing beside him.

“Yuuri?” his mother asked, still in her apron. “Are you thinking of going anywhere? It’s getting late. The sun sets faster now.”

He hated making them feel like this, as if they were worried he was going to do something so suddenly, as if it was a warning of how his mental state was. He knew what he was thinking. He knew what he was doing. But he also knew that they would stop him doing this if he told them.

“I’m not going anywhere but a walk around the grounds,” he assured her, flashing her a smile that he felt was genuine but a little bit strained. She smiled back, a little unsure.

His sister was a little more straightforward, though. “Then why does it look like you’re trying to psyche yourself up for something?”

He didn’t like lying to his family, so he stayed as close to the truth as he could. “I got an update about Viktor.”

“Oh?”

“He’s working with Phichit to stop the wanted posters and stuff.”

“Good luck to Viktor for having to deal with Phichit.”

Yuuri almost laughed at that, especially at thinking that Phichit needed some good luck to deal with Viktor as well. He contemplated how he always seemed to be drawn to the larger personalities – all of his friends had the same loud, surprising and caring personality. There was not a single day that went by that was the same as the last. He gripped the handle tighter. “I want to help them, but Phichit told me to stay out of it.”

Sensing his displeasure, his mother stepped forward and settled a comforting hand on his shoulder. “They’re only looking out for you, dear. There isn’t a lot we can do.”

“I still want to help.” Because as much as anyone could deny it, as much as anyone tried to convince him otherwise, some of this was his fault. He didn’t think that out of pity, and he didn’t feel incredibly guilty about it. It was the truth. And he knew he couldn’t change it now. But he could correct it a little. “And I have an idea.”

His sister stepped forward. Her concerned expression began to shift into something more tense. “This isn’t your issue, so don’t get yourself into trouble for this-”

Yuuri smiled up at her, hoping to assure her too. “I’m not getting in trouble. I told you the truth. I’m only going for a walk along the grounds. I’ll not take a step off our property.” Before they could ask more, he opened the door, releasing the warmth of the house out into the cooler air. He shivered before he took a step out, bathed in the shadows cast by a slowly setting sun and the tree cover.

As they had been for a few days now, the police were parked outside his front gates. They didn’t stop anyone from leaving or coming in, but they were enough of a hinderance that the Katsuki visitors had reduced significantly. Perhaps they thought one of those would be Viktor. Or perhaps they knew Yuuri had lied some in their last conversation and were hoping to intimidate him this way.

The rookie Altin was standing on the other side of the gates this time, watching as Yuuri walked down the path towards them. He said something. Yuuri saw the other officers gathering around their patrol car. Only four, but more than there was of him. Cialdini stood with notebook in hand, expecting Yuuri to have come out to tell him the whole truth.

He was half right.

Yuuri didn’t open the gate. Instead, he stood on the other side, looking at each officer in turn, seeing the expectance in their eyes.

“Yuuri Katsuki,” Cialdini greeted, taking out a pen from his pocket. He tested it against the paper to make sure it was working. “Is there something you want to tell us?”

“Yes,” Yuuri said with a steady voice, returning to the script he had prepared for hours inside his own head.

“And that is?”

“You’re looking for the wrong man.”

His pen paused for a second, eyes snapping to scan over Yuuri’s face. “I assume you’re talking about Viktor?”

“Yes.”

Cialdini tapped the end of the pen against the page, biting the corner of his lip. “Why are you trying to save him now? You were close to throwing him under the bus in our last interview.”

“You never know who could be listening,” Yuuri replied, and he felt his heart beat faster at the interested spark in the officer’s eyes.

His pen began to scribble something again. “You’re worried someone could be listening in? Are you suspicious someone has something hidden around your house?”

“I’m not suspicious, I’m sure.” Yuuri swallowed. He needed to be careful with each and every word. If he was going to do anything to help, without getting too deeply involved as it was, this was the only way.

“And you want to tell us out here because there are less risks?”

“Yes.”

Cialdini scribbled more down, tilting the page so that Yuuri couldn’t see what he was writing. “Is this person that is listening to you also threatening you?”

“Not directly,” Yuuri replied. This was where he had to spin the truth. This was where he had to stick as close as he could, so that these officers who had been trained to see a lie could not see this. “But this person has a grudge against Viktor. He decided the wanted posters were a good revenge.”

Scribble scribble. Yuuri needed to be very aware of what he was saying, knowing that this was all going to be written down completely. Word for word. Nothing to take back.

“Why did this person have a grudge against Viktor?” The officer asked, the other police officers drawing in closer.

“He was jealous. He strived to be what Viktor was, and it might have started out as admiration, but it got worse. I think he saw it as a personal attack when Viktor started to give his attention to me.”

Cialdini fixed him with an intense stare. “What do you mean by that?”

Yuuri swallowed. “I thought Viktor wanted more with me. Like I said before, acting. But I was drawn into it, and Viktor was a good actor. Such a good actor that he got another thief believing he was going to leave the job.”

“It’s another thief that has this grudge against him?”

“What other person would know so much about him and his family?” Yuuri swallowed again, knowing that in that one sentence, he had given something away. He stared back at the officer, not daring the other man to pick up on it. However, though the other man didn’t say anything, he saw the way the pen scratched against the paper faster than it had before.

“And what is the name of this other thief? What does he have to do with our search?”

“His name is JJ Leroy,” Yuuri answered, thinking over if he had known the man’s full name. He suspected Viktor might have told him once, what JJ meant, or perhaps even the man had said it himself, but he couldn’t remember. He wanted to hit his head against the pole, hoping that this didn’t affect his plan too much. “And he helped Viktor steal from me.”

“There was another thief that night?”

“Yes. It was JJ.”

“Why didn’t you tell us this?”

Yuuri glared at the man. “You’ve seen what he’s done to Viktor. You can’t even find him. I don’t want his anger directed towards me and my family.”

Altin stepped into frame, raising a brow. “Is there something else that you’re keeping that he could expose?”

“No,” Yuuri replied. “But he could make something up. It could be proven as false, but the damage would have already been done.”

“Such as?”

“You already seemed to think I had something with Viktor. He could play on that. What sort of damage do you think it could do to my family’s business if people thought that I had had an intimate relationship with a thief? Worse, if it was made to think that it was still ongoing?”

Cialdini gave Altin a look, and the rookie stepped back. “I see what you mean,” the older officer replied. “And that is why you feared saying anything when we last met?”

“Yes. I couldn’t care less if you found Viktor, but JJ would do something to me and my family, and that is something I have to protect.”

“Do you suspect that JJ might have what they stole from you? Or do you know for sure that Viktor still had it?”

“The last person I saw that had it was Viktor,” Yuuri answered, having rehearsed this particular part over and over again in his mind, thinking it over just in case. “But JJ had a fake one that he was going to put away in hopes that I wouldn’t notice it missing. But I walked down before he could place it. I missed something though. They didn’t seem to be getting along. They might have come into it working together, but by the time I got there, they were fighting about something.”

“Fighting about something?” Cialdini scribbled so quickly, Yuuri wasn’t sure how he managed to hold the pencil so securely. “Did you hear any of it?”

“No. And the only things I did hear, I didn’t understand.”

“What did you hear?”

“They were saying something about a betrayal, or greed. Viktor was shouting at JJ. JJ said some intimidating things, like how he’d make Viktor regret it.”

Cialdini wrote it all down, as if every word was worth its weight in gold. Yuuri felt bad, lying or misdirecting the police like this. But in the end, he argued to himself, this was what needed to be done. JJ had made a mistake too many. He wasn’t just getting revenge, he had hurt Yuuri’s future. If JJ thought he was going to get out of that, then he was wrong. He underestimated a rich boy.

The officer made a quick glance towards his officers, silently conversing. Yuuri didn’t attempt to understand, knowing he wouldn’t. There were codes he would not ever be able to hack.

“Is there anything else you have to tell us?” the officer asked.

Yuuri said, “Just please, don’t spread who told you this. My family has just left this trouble. We don’t need anymore.”

“Of course. Thank you for the information. We’ll find him, and we’ll bring back what he took. If you have anything else you remember, anything else you want to tell us, here is my number.”

Yuuri thanked them as he took the slip of paper with the man’s number written on, and began to walk back to his home, aware of the way they stared at his back.

It was no use. As much as he pleaded that his name not be spread, it would be. It always was. Nothing ever stayed a secret in this town, one way or another. Those without a network, even they found out the secrets. Someone, somewhere, found it too tempting to keep. One of those officers would spread it. And so would another person. And another and another until it was well-known. Until it was on everyone’s tongues, turning everyone’s heads, until it blew up all the phones of the town, until it broke down every wall.

And for the first time, that was exactly what Yuuri wanted.

***

The first sign that something had worked was the next day.

Usually, the post man or woman would put their post in the box on the wall beside the gates. No need for them to come into the grounds, and certainly no reason for them to pass the gates. Yuuri was observational, as he had been taught in the years he had been trained to look after his collar. He knew what their post men and women looked like. He knew their names. He had struck up a conversation with a few of them. A greeting here and a goodbye there meant that people would spill their lives to you.

That was how he noticed something was off. The post woman that morning was no one he had seen before. She was young, a good twenty years younger than the others he had seen before, with an air about her that screamed wrong job. She seemed too elegant, too used to walking heels to be walking the flats she had, too aware of the guards moving across the lawn or all the staff that were filtering in and out the front door.

She brought the post to the front door. Yuuri watched her from the window, almost daring her to look up.

Yuuri suspected that JJ had sent her over. He waited for her to do more, but she simply placed the post in the hands of a waiting maid and walked off down the path towards the open gate once more.

Halfway there, she turned around. Yuuri waited for her to see him, though he wasn’t sure what he’d have done. But she didn’t see him. She walked through the gates and closed them, then slipped back into her van and drove down the road.

She didn’t stop at the other houses. She continued on, as if she was the Katsuki specialised post woman.

That was how it began. There were more signs as the day went.

Occasionally, the officers would park outside the gates and watch the house, never stepping in but making sure that their presence was obvious. Yuuri wasn’t sure if it was so much for lying in wait for either Viktor or JJ to come now, or if some of it was for their protection. But it didn’t stop the odd happenings that occurred through the day.

More than once, Yuuri saw shapes waiting in the shadow of the trees. Sometimes it was only one before it slinked away, and sometimes there were two. Never more than that. But he had no doubt now that they were being watched.

JJ had sent people over. It was a little bit of what Yuuri wanted, but not quite.

He waited it out, made sure that the people waiting in the line of the trees didn’t suspect that he knew they were there. Every time one of the Katsuki guards came close, the shapes would move off. Perhaps the guards suspected something too, but they hadn’t reported of anything strange yet.

He just needed to wait.

That was part of his plan, right from the start. He knew it was all he could do. Wait. Wait and hope. If he had played his cards right, JJ would be getting nervous somewhere now, focusing his attention on Yuuri and the things he had spread. Perhaps he would suspect that Yuuri was alone now that Viktor had hidden away somewhere. It would be the perfect time to attack.

When it came to late afternoon and nothing had happened yet, when the shapes at the edges of the trees hadn’t ventured closer and when there hadn’t been any more visits, Yuuri took it to another level.

He knew he was hoping for things too quickly, but he also knew that time was limited, especially if he wanted to make sure that Phichit and Viktor were safe. They could look after themselves. Of course. But they didn’t know what they were walking into. No one did. If Yuuri could distract JJ, even for a short while, to give them that advantage, then he’d have made up for helping to start this.

There was only one way Yuuri knew how to really get at JJ. He had thought of trying to convince him that Viktor was hidden here in hopes that JJ would try to come and find him, but no, Yuuri knew then that JJ would be cautious.

So there was only one way to draw JJ in quickly and hopefully too angry to pay attention. Yuuri didn’t want to do it. It was a low blow. But he thought about how JJ had used him against Viktor, and knew that this was the last chance he got.

He had Cialdini’s number and he used it to the best of his ability. He phoned the officer up as the sun was going down, knowing that the man was likely ending the day, and he told the man about Isabella Yang.

No doubt the young woman would be in hiding with JJ, especially as he suspected that Miss Yang was a thief just like her partner, but it would be enough of a threat. He asked that the officer keep who had told him a secret again. Naturally, it spread just as everything else did.

Hours slipped by. Yuuri began to get suspicious when the shapes on the edges of the trees vanished, as if pulled back on a rushed order. Yuuri watched as his day staff began to get ready to go home, saying goodbye to one another, and hello to the few night staff. The guards changed shifts, and for a moment the lobby was filled with laughter before they went home.  

When late evening came around, the night staff began to switch off the lights. His parents went to settle into bed and his sister spent a little while reading before she stumbled up to her own room.

Yuuri was the last to go to bed. He waited before the fireplace in the library, book in lap but unread for hours. He watched the flames flicker and the shadows tremble on the carpet. The house began to settle into silence.

It was close to midnight when Yuuri decided to call it a night. Perhaps the information he had given the officer hadn’t reached JJ yet. Perhaps he was waiting for a new day.

Yuuri stood and closed the book, the clap too loud in the silence. He set it back into place, killed the fire, and left the library. The door clicked behind him and he took a step to the right, towards the lobby. The call of his bed was strong. He hadn’t slept well since the wanted posters, and especially not since knowing that Viktor had gone into hiding, and that Phichit was at threat too. The sleep deprivation showed itself in his heavy limbs and the slow reactions.

He should have noticed the figure standing in the darkness of the hall sooner than he did.

He gasped and stopped where he was. The figure didn’t move. He blinked, and sure enough it still stood there. He readied himself, waking his limbs quickly, feeling the adrenaline beginning to pour through his blood stream.

The figure stepped forward into the lamp light, and Yuuri didn’t need that to know who it was. JJ’s body was seen first, dressed down from what Yuuri had seen before. Sweats and T-Shirt, it looked as though he had just come from a lazy day. His face was far less relaxed, however. As it came into the lamp light, Yuuri’s blood chilled.

The rage on JJ’s sharp features was raw, still breathing a little harder than usual, as if he had run all the way.

“JJ,” Yuuri went to greet, feeling both the rush of fear and excitement at knowing that his plan had worked. He knew what he was going to do from here. He had thought it over enough, ironing out all issues. But now that it was happening, now that JJ was here, it was a little more difficult to think.

“Yuuri,” JJ replied, voice tight and cold, like the cracking of ice. “Do you really want to start this?”

Yuuri took a step back when he saw how JJ moved forward.

“Do you really want to bring Isabella into this?”

“You brought me into it.”

“No, _no,_ that was Viktor.” He took another step forward, slow and stalking, terrifying. “You’re frustrated, aren’t you? Precious Viktor is gone and you’re lonely, so you’re taking it out on me and Bella. Yuuri, don’t get involved. I don’t take mercy.”

Yuuri continued to back up, knowing that if he made enough noise, there would be plenty of people to come to his aid. But not yet. That wasn’t his plan. “You shouldn’t have put those posters of Viktor all over the place.”

JJ’s expression pinched. He shouted, “It was what he deserved! You have no right to say anything. You’re not a part of this!”

“You should have thought that before you made me a chess piece to get back at Viktor. How do you feel now that I’ve made Isabella the same thing?” He made a show of bringing out his phone, making sure that JJ’s gaze followed it closely. “How would you feel if I told you I know where she is? Or how about if I told you I have the police already heading that way? I’ve drawn you here. You’re not protecting her.”

It was a low blow. Yuuri hated that he had to use it. But he thought about what JJ had done, not just to Viktor and himself but how JJ had been prepared to use a fake persona to hurt his family. Isabella had been just as guilty. He remembered that in hope that it would chase his guilt away.

He barely had time to press a button on his phone before JJ launched at him.

Thieves were quick. Thieves were quiet. Thieves were scary. JJ managed to close the distance between them in the blink of an eye, and had Yuuri not been prepared, he might have been caught.

But Yuuri wasn’t anything if not prepared. Knowing someone like Viktor, and knowing someone like Phichit, having the training he had had for years, and by just knowing the dangers of the world, he was prepared enough to know what he could and couldn’t do. In the time it took JJ to close the distance between them, blinded with rage, Yuuri took the same amount of time to pull down long vase beside him. JJ slammed into it, unable to stop himself.

As JJ was standing properly again, getting his bearings, Yuuri turned and ran as quickly as he could. He made sure that his steps were light, quick, leaving barely a trace, just as he had seen Viktor do when the older man didn’t think he was watching.

Just as he turned the corner, just as he pressed a button on his phone, he heard JJ call after him.

“Run, Yuuri. Run as fast as you can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can feel the end coming soon now...... Urg, not sure how many left but not a lot now! 
> 
> Heads up, I will have something to then inform you all of (or announce??? I'm not sure if it's announcing, I guess informing is a good word) once this is done, something that I've been thinking of for a while (don't worry, it's not bad, I don't think?? Wow I sound so sure in this whole end note XD), which I will be putting on my tumblr. So just a few more weeks until that! 
> 
> But right now, Yuuri is in danger. And is this back to the cliffhangers I did a lot in Gunned Down Butterflies? Hehehehe I mean, I don't think it's quite as painful XD 
> 
> My tumblr   
> [Here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	25. Yuuri Hung Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by whynikkywhy, who did a superb job because I messed up so much of it XD

“So, exactly _how_ do you know about me?” Viktor asked, watching as Phichit’s fingers almost seemed to phase over the keyboard. They moved so quickly, he wondered how he managed to type at all, and yet the words on the page were coming out perfectly. No hesitation. No misspelling. No mistakes. Viktor would have found that impressive in itself. However, what added to the awe was how quickly replies were coming in on the screen. One per second. Two per second. And Phichit was able to take it all in and reply quickly.

“I wouldn’t be good at my job if I didn’t, Viktor,” Phichit replied. He paused for a moment, eyes scanning over the screen before he turned back to the thief with a sly grin. “Though it wasn’t from my job that I found out about you.”

Viktor narrowed his eyes. “Then where?”

He felt like banging his head against the wall. There was a steady pain already beginning in his temples, aching until it pressed against his skull. They’d been trying for hours, and Phichit had reached out as far as he could go, and yet there wasn’t even a breadcrumb trail following JJ. Viktor knew from experience that JJ couldn’t have hidden this well by himself. The man wasn’t that good. Someone in his family must have been good at it, a skill that Viktor couldn’t have known until now. It was annoying and what annoyed him more was that Phichit didn’t seem the least bit frustrated with it.

“I already told you. You have someone vouching for you. I happen to trust this person very much, so you owe them your whole existence. Otherwise, I might have been on another side.” Phichit turned to glare, and it was a glare that Viktor hadn’t thought that the boy could do. It sent chills down his spine. “And believe me, Viktor. I very nearly was.”

Viktor wasn’t entirely sure what he was talking about, but it was the closest thing to a threat that he had heard coming from Phichit. He felt as if he could only breathe properly again when Phichit turned back to the screen, any malice gone from his face immediately.

He wanted to ask who it was that Phichit trusted so much, who it was that had vouched for Viktor so completely to change this man’s obvious displeasure with him. He’d be lying if he wasn’t curious. There was only a handful of people that Viktor knew well enough that would vouch for him. His family, Yuuri, and perhaps a few of his clients, and Chris. That was all.

His curiosity died suddenly. He stood from where he was sat. “I think I know who could help us,” he said.

“Someone we could trust?”

“I trust him with everything I have, everything I am,” Viktor replied.

“And how could he help?”

“He’s good at hiding things.” Because Viktor didn’t want to say it, but maybe having Phichit, someone who was good at finding things, was enough. Maybe combined with someone who was good at hiding things, someone that could rewind the process and figure it out that way, they could be an unstoppable team. “He’s especially good at hiding thieves.”

Phichit was quiet for a moment. Perhaps he was thinking the same as Viktor – that after some time, he would be able to find JJ. But they didn’t have that time. They needed to get there quickly, before JJ and his family even had a hint of their involvement.

Phichit nodded. “Call him up then. Give me his name. I want to do some research on him while he’s making his way over.”

Chris didn’t take long to get to them, but in that time Phichit had unearthed things about Chris that the older man had tried to keep hidden. Nothing that could damage the reputation of the man, but enough that Phichit knew some of Chris’… past relationships. Viktor almost grinned at it, seeing the young man’s face flare a bright red as his gaze scanned over the screen.

“And you’re friends with this guy?” At Viktor’s nod, Phichit continued, “You say he likes hiding things, but what’s this? He likes… he likes finishing in public?”

Viktor’s grin finally pulled at his lips. “He a little backwards, maybe.”

For the first time in what seemed like hours, Phichit tore his eyes from the screen, mouth gaping open at Viktor’s words. “Maybe? There are videos.”

“You haven’t even found some of the worst one’s.”

Phichit turned back to the screen, seemingly caught between being frozen and wanting to burst out with laughter. He clicked out of the window. “Okay, well, research over. I feel like I know more about him than I want to, and I haven’t even met him.”

As if beckoned, there came a knock on the door. Viktor opened it, and true enough, there was Chris. Viktor had tried to make sure the call didn’t sound like an emergency, but he had put some urgency in his voice. Chris would understand. They had known each other long enough to know what the other meant. And yet, he hadn’t expected Chris to turn up at the doorstep with a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of red wine.

“Chris, what are those for?” he asked.

Chris stepped in and his eyes immediately found Phichit. His lips pulled into a cheeky smile and he marched right over to the young man. “These flowers are for you. Thank you for helping this idiot of a best friend I have.” He settled the flowers down in Phichit’s lap without waiting for a reply, before scanning the room for a bottle opener. When he didn’t notice one, he pulled out his keys, holding out his keyring in the shape of a bottle opener. “And this is for us. Searching for hidden things can take a long time, and it can be oh _so_ exhausting. We all need a pick-me-up. I brought my favourite. Do we have any chocolate cake? This is just divine with it.” When neither Phichit nor Viktor replied, he rolled his eyes. “Alright, how about any pears? I can make some lovely wine poached pears.”

“No pears, Chris. No chocolate cake. The only thing ingestible that we have here is that red wine you’ve brought,” Viktor replied, so close to almost laughing. He’d grown so used to Chris that sometimes he forgot what it was like for someone like Phichit meeting him for the first time, a fresh pair of eyes.

The older man glanced around, grabbing some glasses from a cupboard. They were the furthest things from wine glasses that anything could be, and yet he poured them in as elegantly as if they had been. “I could argue against that. It’s amazing how much our bodies can digest.”

Before the topic could stray to anything resembling flirty, Viktor side-tracked it. “Chris, this is Phichit. He’s the informant I was talking about. And Phichit, this is Chris.”

Chris paused mid-pour and held out his hand. Phichit reached for a hand-shake, but instead Chris pulled him closer, pressing a kiss to his knuckles. “I believe I know who you are,” he said, voice deep. “You’re the informant that likes to undo some of my hard work.”

Phichit grinned back. “I appreciate the compliment.”

Chris let go, handing Phichit one of the glasses. “Not quite a compliment. I only said some.”

“Then after this, I’ll focus my efforts on your hard work. Exactly how many thieves do you hide? Or is there more than that? I’d like to make a list to check off my victory.”

Chris raised a glass to his lips, taking a slow sip. “But that would destroy some of the fun. If you figure it out yourself, I’ll pay you extra compliments.”

Phichit set the glass down and turned back to the screen, typing quickly. “Yeah, no thanks. Not after some of the things I’ve seen you do.” Before Chris could question it, Phichit changed the subject, “We’ll update you on how far we’ve come, and I’ll give you access to my files. Maybe you’re the fresh pair of eyes we need.”

***

They got a little closer. There were small things that changed. Hints that they were chasing JJ and his family. They started out small. JJ’s description had been mentioned in a town over. Someone mentioned how they had seen shapes in the dark last night.

Then the hints got bigger. Phichit found a few CCTV cameras picking up people that looked like JJ and his family. No positive sights, no sure bets, but suspicious enough. There weren’t a lot, but more than there had been a few hours ago.

Chris narrowed it down to a small space hidden in the depths of the southern woods. They sent people to check it out. It had been abandoned again, but a few small signs that someone had been hiding out there recently. They were just too late. They were closer than where they had started out, they reminded themselves.

They worked through the night, hoping that the false security of the dark would make JJ slip up.

Viktor’s phone had been ringing for hours. He didn’t look to see who it was. He already knew. He switched it off. Yakov would be livid. His whole family would be furious. But he needed to do this. When Chris’ phone began to ring too, he knew he was going to need to make a proper story for when he saw them again. Chris switched his off as well.

Their first break through came the next morning – and not in how they expected it.

They’d finished the bottle of wine. Viktor was making himself a coffee, the quick kind that he had bought from the twenty-four hour shop in the middle of the night to try and keep himself going. Since meeting Yuuri, his routine of sleeping in the day and working at night had truly been shattered. Now he felt a little more normal, going to sleep as everyone else did.

“Viktor, Chris,” Phichit called from where he was sat before the computer screen, voice a little tense.

As Viktor got closer, he saw the way Phichit’s phone was lighting up, an influx of notifications. Something had shifted, he could tell. Something was changing. Chris stood next to him, a glass of water in hand.

“Have you found something?” he asked.

Phichit shook his head. “It is about JJ.”

Viktor leaned over the boy, eyes scanning over the screen. Phichit was scrolling over everything so quickly that he could barely make anything out. “That’s good.”

“No, it’s not.”

Viktor stopped trying to read and turned his attention to Phichit. “What do you mean?” There was some fear in Phichit’s eyes.

“I told him not to do anything,” he replied. “He usually listens to me. He knows how dangerous this is.”

Viktor’s eyebrows knitted together. Chris had paused mid-sip. “Who?”

Phichit scrolled down to an article. “I’ve told my network to let me know about anything related to JJ. This came out this morning.”

Viktor had to read it a few times. There was a video too. JJ Leroy was a priority for the police. He was believed to be an ex-accomplice of Viktor Nikiforov, and a lot more dangerous. The article quoted the video, where the detective Cialdini mentioned that he had spoken to an anonymous source, someone that didn’t wish to be named.

Things began to click in his mind. He could think of a few people that would think JJ and Viktor had been affiliated, and they all came from one household.

“It’s not just the article. There are rumours going around town already.” Phichit slid the phone across the table, showing Viktor the influx of notifications from blocked or unknown numbers. They flashed too quickly or him to see, but there was one word that his eyes could notice, no matter the situation.

_Yuuri._

“What?” he asked. The pieces were coming together in his head, and yet there was something missing.

“I spoke to him yesterday,” Phichit said, filling in some of the blanks. “I told him you were fine, and he should stay out of it.”

Everything was coming to him slowly. It felt as if a fog had filled his mind. “You know Yuuri?”

“He’s my best friend,” Phichit replied, waving his hand as if the comment wasn’t important or could be spoken about later. “But I told him to stay out of it. I should have known he wouldn’t.”

“Yuuri hates rumours.”

“He hates you being in danger more.” Phichit took his phone back and scrolled through them all, tired eyes taking in everything. “He knows what he’s doing. He wouldn’t have spoken to that officer otherwise. He knows it’ll create rumours. Is he trying to take away the attention from us? Is he trying to make JJ angry? Does he think the police could find him? What are you doing, Yuuri?”

Viktor stood, trying to comprehend the thoughts that swirled through his mind. Perhaps it was because he was tired, or perhaps it was because this was Yuuri, but it all seemed to overwhelm him.

“What does this mean? Does this complicate things?” Chris asked, voicing the concerns in Viktor’s own mind that he couldn’t seem to get to at the moment.

Phichit shrugged his shoulders. “It depends. You both know JJ better than I do. What would he do in response to this?”

They both turned to Viktor, and yet Viktor wasn’t quite understanding what they were asking. It took a moment to make it through. “Usually, he’d have probably paid Yuuri a visit. But he’s too hidden. I don’t think he’d risk it.”

The other two were quiet while they thought, as if they were unsure.

Viktor could understand. JJ used to be easy to read, easy to understand. Now it was far more difficult. JJ had changed the moment Viktor had met Yuuri, eliciting a response form the other thief that Viktor never would have thought possible. Now, the younger man was nothing like he remembered, nothing like he could ever predict. Perhaps he would keep hidden. But he was just as likely to move.

“Keep an eye on Yuuri’s house,” he said. It was close to an order.

Phichit nodded, taking his phone and already sending out feelers. Chris stared down at his water, contemplating something.

“If JJ doesn’t make a move in the next few hours, we continue to search for him.”

“Viktor, while we wait, maybe you need to go and get some rest,” Chris mentioned.

Viktor asked, “Are you going to rest? Are either of you going to be able to sleep?” They both shook their heads. “Then neither am I.”

They waited, watching the screen and Phichit’s phone for any updates. As the hours passed, it eased some, realising that JJ hadn’t made any moves. Yuuri’s house was safe. The family hadn’t left. Phichit’s network informed them that the family still moved against the windows, sticking to usual routine.

It was the calm before the storm.

As the evening rolled in, things became more complicated.

Phichit’s phone blew up again. New articles on the internet rolled it. It quickly became a mess.

Chris was leaning and reading over the articles while Phichit scrolled through his phone, Viktor watching the both, wondering what he could do. No one spoke, no one seemed to breathe. What seemed like hours was only a few seconds as the two before him read over the words, and he could tell by their faces it was worse than he had expected.

“He’s making himself the bait,” Phichit whispered so quietly that even Viktor, who was a foot away, could barely hear him.

“He’s what?” Viktor asked. His body froze, blood burning as it flooded his system. He could only think of the worst case, and knowing Yuuri, it was most likely that.

“He’s making himself the bait,” Phichit repeated. “Yuuri. He’s being an idiot. He’s made himself the bait.”

“Bait?” He could barely get the words through his lips. It sounded too sudden, too unpredictable. He had hidden from Yuuri for his safety. Phichit had told Yuuri to stay out of it for his safety. Because they were best friends. Something Viktor still needed to talk with Phichit about. But Yuuri was in danger, despite it. He had brought the danger to himself.

“How?” Chris asked, being the voice of reason he needed right then.

“He’s…” Phichit read over everything, fingers flying over the screen, slightly shaking. “He’s told the police about Isabella. He’s almost threatening her.”

An eye for an eye. Viktor swallowed it down, sitting in the seat beside Phichit as the world spun. “He knows what he’s doing,” he found himself saying, almost surprising himself as they slipped out of his mouth.

Phichit nodded his head, voice sounding just as tense as he replied, “He knows _exactly_ what he’s doing. I told him to stay out of it.”

“The police you have watching his house, have they said anything?”

Phichit shook his head. “There’s been no movement. This news has only just broken out though. If JJ is going to do anything…” The young man paused, turning his red eyes to Viktor. “Do you think he’s going to do anything? Yuuri’s baited himself, but is it going to work?”

_I don’t want it to,_ he thought. He had wanted to catch JJ, of course he did. That was why he had gathered Phichit and Chris in the first place. But not like this. “I don’t know. He’s become pretty unpredictable recently.”

“So, what do we do?” Chris asked. “You already have people there. They’ll let you know if anything goes wrong. But do we want to be there, just in case? Do we risk coming out?”

Viktor found his heart hammering in his chest, the thought of what JJ might do to Yuuri inspiring damaging images in his head, harming the calm he had managed to fight for. He knew Yuuri could fend for himself. If there was anything Viktor knew, it was that. One of the first things he had ever learned about the other man was Yuuri’s self-defence lessons that were not always about self-defence. But that didn’t matter. In that moment, Viktor could only think of the things that JJ must have learned too. People like him and Viktor, people who had the career they did, there was more that they learned. Dangerous things.

He couldn’t find the answer. “How many people are watching the house?”

“I’ve got quite a few watching. Probably a dozen?”

“How good are they at noticing things?”

“They’re very good,” Phichit assured.

Viktor shook his head. “They need to be better than very good. This is a thief. They need to be excellent at noticing a thief. Maybe more if JJ brings more.”

“Would he bring more than a dozen?”

Viktor didn’t want to shrug and seem unsure, not with who he was or what the situation was, but he couldn’t help it. There was so much that he didn’t know. “How good are they at noticing that? Or defending?”

“My network aren’t all fighters, Viktor. They’re just normal people.”

Viktor was almost going to get out of his chair and throw his coat on, mind only thinking about where Yuuri was. But Chris’ hand fell on his shoulder, pushing him back to sit down.

“Let’s not rush. This is the best chance we have,” he told them, cutting through the tension. “You’ve both said yourself. Yuuri knows what he’s doing. He’s probably set things up and he has a plan. If we intercept now, JJ will know something’s wrong. If we thought it was hard finding him now, he’ll only make it harder when he notices how close we got.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Phichit said, calm but with an underlying tone of a snarl. “You don’t know him like we do.”

“You know for sure he’s going to get hurt?” Chris asked. “Is he weak? Is he a bad fighter?”

“Well, no, but-”

“So you’re saying this because you worry for him, not because he can’t do it. I understand. But give him a chance. We can move closer, just in case something does happen, but we can’t mess up this opportunity he’s made for us. He’s making himself bait for you two. Don’t ruin it.”

Viktor wanted to argue, but he knew that Chris was exactly the person he and Phichit needed right now. They needed someone who wasn’t as close to Yuuri, someone who could see outside of what was happening. If they ruined it now, if JJ got away, the threat would always be there. Use the bait. Catch him. End it like that. Viktor didn’t like it – he really, really didn’t like it – but he couldn’t deny that Yuuri had made a brilliant chance for them.

If JJ took it.

They did as Chris suggested and moved a little closer to the Katsuki estate. Under the cover of the twilight, as the sun set over the silhouette of the town, they took their time. Phichit watched his screen like a mad man, waiting for any information. Viktor waited beside him, heart sinking for the moment that Phichit screamed.

Even as they settled in a small train station ticket room, abandoned years ago when the trains no longer had enough money to run, nothing had happened. The darkness was looming in the streets, lamp lights flickering, houses descending into shadow as the inhabitants settled to sleep.

Everything was quiet. Nothing moved. They were close enough to Yuuri that they could almost hear the squeak of his garden gates.

“I’ve cleared my networks,” Phichit whispered, feeling as though anything more could shatter the silence. “I told them only anything about Yuuri is to come through to me. This is the prime time for JJ to attack, if he is going to.”

Viktor ignored the chill that had settled in the room. He fidgeted, waiting in anxious anticipation for what was to come. He thought of JJ and the chance that he would come. He placed himself in the man’s shoes, and wondered what he would do. He knew the answer before he could finish it. Already he had done it, rising when Yuuri had come under threat. No doubt JJ would do the same. The man already had some vendetta against Yuuri. There wouldn’t be much of an excuse to do what he wanted to do.

Remembering that he had switched off his phone, he trembled to switch it back on. He knew he would have to answer to his family, who had no doubt left multiple messages. At this point, he didn’t care if Yakov managed to find him. All that mattered was that Yuuri had something to call if he needed to.

It took minutes for his phone to come back alive again. He held his breath. He hoped not to find a message already from Yuuri, to late to reply or do anything about.

But the only calls and messages he had were from his family. He breathed a little easier at that.

When Phichit raised a brow, Viktor explained, “Just in case your network doesn’t see anything. Yuuri can call me.” He didn’t mean to sound as though he didn’t appreciate Phichit’s efforts – he wouldn’t have asked for the man’s help otherwise. But he needed to be realistic. He needed to cater to these worries that he held heavy in his heart.

The wait was the most agonising part of it. There was no surety that anything would happen at all, and yet everything could happen at once. One moment of distraction, one second of being unsure, and everything would come crashing down. 

It finally came very late into the night. Tension had built. There were seconds that ticked by so slowly, the universe could have been born again. Rain could have stopped. The cold could have dropped ice on their cheeks. And yet they didn’t notice. Every moment that something came through Phichit’s phone, all eyes followed.

It was Viktor’s phone that alerted them first. Yuuri’s number. The other times Yuuri had called, he had been forced to ignore or to switch his phone off all together, just to make sure that he could not be reached. Now he picked up before it could finish the first ring.

“Yuuri?” he asked, voice almost begging.

He knew there was something wrong immediately. Yuuri’s breath was rushed, just a little far away, as if Yuuri wasn’t holding the phone close. Harsh footsteps against carpet, sometimes on wood. Something crashed. Another voice in the background.

“Yuuri?” he asked again.

Yuuri couldn’t hear him. His voice wasn’t loud enough over the sound of rushing feet, of heavy breathing, of something crashing. Yuuri gasped. There was another crash, something glass. Slamming against a wall. A cry out. Viktor’s heart stopped altogether.

The voice in the background shouted. Viktor couldn’t make out the words, but he knew that voice.

It was at that moment that Phichit’s phone began to explode. Notification after notification, call after call, rushed, in an emergency.

Phichit answered one of them. “ _He’s here. He’s in the house.”_

Viktor was out of the chair before the person had finished talking. He crashed open the door, cold wind blowing in. He didn’t hang up the phone, still listening to the way Yuuri breathed heavily, listening for any screams of pain or for anything that JJ might say.

But as much as he tried, he couldn’t contain connection. It broke. Yuuri hung up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this was the other side of the day, of what happened with Phichit and Viktor! So now we know that they know, but what's going to happen?? 
> 
> So I think it's obvious now that when I said it was going to be three chapters left, it's not quite three XD Turns out I couldn't quite fit them all in. Buuuut there could potentially be only two left, maybe three left now... And that should be it! Ahhhhhh! 
> 
> My tumblr is   
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	26. Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by speedy whynikkywhy

He was sure Viktor had picked up. He could almost hear his name being spoken, very faintly, as if calling from somewhere far away. His breathing was too loud. The phone was right by his ear and he couldn’t hear a single thing. It said Viktor picked up. But he couldn’t hear _anything._

He thought about hanging up and trying it again, just in hopes that the connection would strengthen. He had done all of this to lure JJ here, so that Viktor and Phichit had something to do, so that the threat was eradicated. But now that JJ was here, Yuuri couldn’t help but feel as if everything was going wrong.

His only solace was that the noise would be waking up everyone else in the house soon enough. JJ would be one against many. But Yuuri needed Viktor and Phichit to get here before that, before Yuuri’s hard work was brought to nothing if JJ escaped.

Knowing it was a real threat, Yuuri led JJ further into the house, as far in as he could, far enough away from any windows. He threw vases towards the man, still amazed with how quickly JJ moved, storming through like a tornado, eyes boring into Yuuri. If he hadn’t put himself into this, Yuuri might have been close to terrified.

He didn’t know when it happened, but the connection on his phone had cut. He glanced at the screen, only seeing his call history, the call to Viktor lasting a meagre thirty seconds. That had been minutes ago. He cursed. He went to press the call again.

Something hurtled towards him. He could hear it in the air, whistling as it came closer. He barely had enough time to react. What might have been on a path to hit his head hit his hand instead, throwing the phone from his grip, slicing a cut along his palm. It was a piece of metal. He glanced back, a gasp lingering on the edge of his tongue.

JJ had a metal candle case in his hands, tearing the screws from their holes. It creaked and screamed underneath his pulls, ripping it all until they made large shrapnel. He tore off one of the windows, glass embedded in the square metal frame, and threw it.

Yuuri bowed, shouting out and holding his head. Above him, he heard the metal and glass crash against the painting on the wall, slashing the canvas. It rained on him, small pieces of glass losing themselves in his hair.

He needed to keep moving. He got up before JJ could tear another piece and sprinted down the hall, slamming his feet against the floor to create as much noise as he could.

“You think you can bring Isabella into this and get away with it?” JJ called after him, the sound of screaming metal following. His voice was almost feral, demonic.

No. Yuuri hadn’t expected to get away with it. He didn’t want to get away with it. It drew JJ here, and that was the only thing he had wanted to get out of it.

“She has nothing to do with this!”

Yuuri could have argued against that. “Neither did I!” he called in response once he was safely around the corner.

That was one good thing about the old house – it was created almost like a maze, back when the aristocrats had placed value on materials. The more halls and the less structured the house seemed to be, showed how many man hours the builders had had to go through, and how many materials they had had to use. It was a show of how much money the house owners had. Yuuri had thought it stupid, but it was almost saving his life now.

“You involve yourself with Viktor, you drag yourself into this mess,” JJ shouted.

Yuuri wasn’t sure how that logic worked. He never asked to be in the middle of this. He hadn’t asked that Viktor walk up to him that night. He hadn’t asked for Viktor to speak to him. To dance with him. To sweep him off of his feet. To make him fall in love with him. He hadn’t asked for any of this.

Not that he regretted it. He didn’t regret not walking away from Viktor that night. He didn’t regret talking to him. Dancing with him. He didn’t regret falling hard. He didn’t regret knowing Viktor.

“Are you sure you want to play that game, JJ?” he asked, glancing around. He knew where they were heading. He needed to make a detour. They were getting close to windows. The most narrow, smallest place would be in the very heart of it all. The only place he knew to lock JJ away without fear of him getting out. No vents. No windows. Only one door. He turned the corner just as another shard of metal flew through the air behind him, embedding itself in the door beside him.

“Oh, Yuuri, that should be my line.”

Yuuri shuddered with the connotation, feeling slightly nauseous. Above the sound of his rushing heart, he could rapid footsteps, larger than his and JJ’s, echoing down the halls. The house seemed to tremble with movement. The air was tense. Shouts seemed distant.

Yuuri needed to pick up the pace. If he was going to trap JJ, he needed to do it before the thief was alerted to what was going on. JJ seemed lost in his rage, too busy chasing Yuuri to hear the signs.

There were only a few corridors left. Just a few footsteps. Hardly anything. It would take a few seconds, a minute at most. That was all, he thought. He could do that easily. He’d done more in the last few minutes.

But it couldn’t distract him from realising that JJ was getting closer. Yuuri had the best stamina his self-defence trainer had seen. He could keep things going. Even Viktor had been surprised. But that didn’t mean he was fast. He could keep running, but the initial burst of speed was not something he could do.

It seemed JJ was wrapped with energy. With each powerful leap, he was getting closer and closer. Soon, he would be close enough to touch the back of Yuuri’s neck with the shards of metal he still had.

Yuuri could see the door. He sent a silent apology to his father before he pulled the thick door wide.

His dad’s study. It was the only place that he could think of, that was at the heart of the house, far enough away from any windows and with security, big enough to fight, harsh enough as a cage. The lights were off. He rushed in without turning them on.

He could navigate the whole room, even in the dark. He found the balcony stairs, taking slow, steady steps up as he watched JJ’s shadow follow him in, swallowed up by the darkness of the room.

“Oh, I see,” he heard JJ whisper, carried to him by the silence. “You think a little bit of darkness is going to save you.”

JJ slammed the door shut. Had it not been for the thief’s shadow, Yuuri wouldn’t have been sure if the man had followed him in at all.

With the door now closed, the whole room was covered in absolute darkness. A small slither of light creeped in from under the door, barely able to reach a few centimetres before it was lost. The air was cold, thick, silent. Yuuri could hear his own breathing. He took another step up, slow, hoping to not make the wood creak.

He listened out for JJ. The silence, the unknown of where JJ was in the room, the possibility of him being so close he could touch him, unnerved Yuuri more. It was tense, painful, heart hammering so tightly against his chest he swore the other man could hear it.

His only solace was that JJ couldn’t navigate the room. It turned out to be more of an advantage than Yuuri had initially thought. There was a stumble, as if JJ’s foot had slammed into something. It was further away than Yuuri had expected, closer to the other side of the room. He knew immediately that JJ had walked into the book shelves. He swallowed.

“You’ll mess up too,” JJ called. “You can’t know this room as well as you think you do.”

Yuuri took another step, following the bannister with his hands, steadying himself. Each scrape of his foot along the wood set his nerves alight.

Every little noise in the room made his head snap towards it, sure that it was JJ. He heard the flutter of pages. A second later, he heard the creak of the wall to his right. A moment later, there was something that sounded like a breath behind him.

“You’re just as blind in the darkness, Yuuri,” JJ whispered. His voice was further from the shelf now, closer to the other side of the room, almost at the foot of the stairs.

Yuuri regained his breathing, taking another step up. He watched the gloom, waiting for any movement, though he knew he wouldn’t be able to see it even if it was inches from his face. His eyes were slowly adjusting, but still he could see nothing.

There was a creak of the bannister below him.

“Are you up here?”

Yuuri ground his teeth together to stop himself from saying anything. He heard JJ take the first step, just as careful.

He was more unnerved by the fact that JJ was making noise at all. He had seen how JJ moved. He had seen how he walked silently, just like Viktor. It was how they were trained. And yet here he was, openly speaking, alerting Yuuri to where he was, making his footsteps noisy.

There was a plan in that somewhere, but Yuuri’s mind was so fogged with fear he couldn’t figure it out. He slowly moved backwards, pressing his back to the outer bannister as he heard JJ’s footsteps get closer and closer.

In the distance, he could hear the floorboards above them thundering with multiple footsteps. Somewhere, an alarm was sounding. It was getting harder to breathe.

“That took a while. Who knows what I could have done to you in the time it took for them to get their shit together.”

JJ’s voice was right before him. Only inches away.

Yuuri stopped breathing. He gently placed a hand on his mouth, pressing himself further against the bannister. He was almost falling off the other side.

He could almost feel JJ pass the air between them. The steps were slow, calculated, so close.

One of the steps creaked further up. Yuuri carefully breathed again, attempting to stop the way his lungs were screaming. He took a step down. His hands trembled as they clung onto the bannister.

If he set himself between JJ and the door, there would be more of a chance, he thought. Viktor and Phichit had to be close. Even if the call hadn’t made its way through, Viktor had to know that there was something wrong, right? He had to. Viktor wouldn’t have picked up otherwise. He hadn’t before.

He shouldn’t have been thinking that. It distracted him. As he stepped onto the last stair, it creaked under his weight, just as the room became silent. He froze.

Confuse it with the way the room naturally creaked, he begged. Just think it was something else.

“There you are.”

The voice was too close. JJ wasn’t at the top as he had thought. That creaking was fake. The voice was beside his ear. The sounds were all off.

Yuuri didn’t have a second to think how JJ had managed it before he felt a slice against his arm. He kicked out, his foot landing on something, JJ’s shout suddenly too loud in the silence. Yuuri heard him stumble. Yuuri rushed towards where he knew the desk was, hands scanning over the surface. He grabbed one of his father’s pens and turned around, brandishing it in his hands.

JJ was still stumbling on the steps, groaning. Whatever Yuuri had hit, it had hit well.

There was a drop. Something fell on the carpet close to him. It took a moment for him to realise it was his own blood dripping from him.

He wanted to wipe it up and stop the noise, but he worried that his movement would alert JJ. The thief was beginning to get quieter, settling the room back into the silence that had drowned it. Yuuri evened his breathing, though his heart felt as if it would never settle again.

There was a footstep to his right. He didn’t turn. It might be a fake, just like the ones on the steps. He listened out for anything else, even the smallest scrape along the carpet.

He could hear an owl hooting in the garden. The gate was opening at the front of the property. Sirens.

If he could hear that, he knew JJ could hear it. Maybe the thief would attempt an escape. He needed to get closer to the door.

Swallowing quietly, he began to lift his feet carefully. How did Viktor do this without thinking too much about it? Yuuri had to roll his soles, be conscious of every movement he made just to make sure that he was doing as they did. Even then, he thought the movements of his clothes were too loud to be like Viktor was.

There was a whistle behind him. He didn’t move. He continued on towards the door.

A foot tapped against the wood of the desk, just where Yuuri had been only a minute ago. Fake. It must have been fake. He continued on.

JJ laughed and it sounded as if it had come from the balcony, above the steps, where he had first been heard. Right above Yuuri. Yuuri paid it no attention. The younger man was just playing games. If he continued on, if he continued to be silent, JJ was just as blind as he was.

He could feel when he was close to the door. He reached out, felt the change in the air, the chill through the bottom. His finger tips pressed to the wood. It helped calm him, until he realised that he hadn’t come here to escape.

Carefully, as if he was pressed on a small ledge with a thousand foot drop, he turned around and pressed himself to the wood. He held the pen out, knowing that it was all he had in defence.

He could hear the shuffles in the room. He pressed himself further back, calming himself with the sound of the footsteps raging by the guards a few floors above them.

Something suddenly occurred to him. He glanced down. A slither of light was peeking from underneath the door, attempting to reach the darkest parts of the dark study. His legs were in the way. He cast shadows.

He glanced up, watching the gloom. If JJ looked this way, he’d see him. He’d see the columns of his legs. He’d attack.

Yuuri wasn’t going to have a chance if he didn’t pull himself together. He took a deep breath, holding out his pen carefully, bracing against whatever might fly towards him.

Maybe there was something he was missing. There must have been. JJ could move without hitting something. Yuuri could bet everything he was that JJ wouldn’t be moving around like an old grandfather as he was. There was something he wasn’t quite doing right.

He closed his eyes and waited. He ignored every sound outside of the room, listening to nothing but the movement of the air, the tension and pressure. He ignored even the sound of his own heart-beat. Every little movement in the room, he listened to.

He didn’t know how, but he knew the moment JJ saw his shadows cast against the light. Perhaps it was the way the air dropped, or the way his skin shivered as if he knew someone was looking at him. Perhaps it was the way a footstep just on the other side of the room sounded more real than the others despite just how quiet it was, or how his instincts were screaming at him.

He braced himself, pen facing forward, listening to the creak of the house and wondering which were natural and which weren’t.

JJ was quiet. Yuuri didn’t have a lot of people to compare him to, but he knew JJ wasn’t as good as Viktor. Viktor could dance quietly, could walk, could run silently. His very movements didn’t make noise. JJ always had something loud about him, be it his words, actions or personality. Right then, Yuuri thought it might have been everything about his atmosphere.

But it seemed in the last moment, JJ didn’t want to be quiet. He attacked with all the ferocity of a confident man, thinking he had cornered Yuuri before he could escape.

Yuuri took every moment of his training, memorising every lesson, to search out which way JJ was lunging. He’d heard the powerful leap. He’d heard JJ’s flight. Finding the angle, he gripped the pen and jabbed it upwards.

For a moment, he thought he had missed it. He thought he’d messed up everything, and this was it. One mistake and he’d be killed here, left to wait for his father or someone else to open the door. The guards were getting closer. There were a few sets of footsteps turning the corner. They were calling for him.

But then he felt a weight on his hands, pushing his arms backwards into his chest. Something crashed against the door beside him, and JJ’s gasps were right beside his ear.

Yuuri didn’t stop there. He knew he couldn’t become content with harming JJ once. He couldn’t fool himself into thinking that that was it. If he didn’t move, he knew JJ would hurt him.

But JJ was pressed too heavy onto him, pinning him against the door. JJ’s hand patted its way up his body until it got to his throat, pressing. Not quite a strangle, the angle was too awkward, but he tried. Yuuri attempted to push him, digging the pen further into whatever part of JJ’s body it was in, making the other man cry out.

JJ pressed harder, realising that his pressure was making it hard for Yuuri to breathe. Dots were swimming at the corner of his eyes, dancing and growing until they were slowly taking over his vision. His pulse was crashing against his neck. JJ’s strangle was slow, a little weak, but pressing in the right place to finish.

Yuuri couldn’t push him off. No matter no had he tried to push the pen until his hands were pressed against JJ’s stomach, the thief wasn’t moving.

His reactions were getting slower. He recognised his body shutting down. He needed to act fast.

Recalling his training, he let go of the pen. He glanced down as well as he could, spying where JJ’s foot was in the darkness. Bringing up his heel, he smashed it onto the arch of JJ’s foot.

The younger man cried out, almost piercing Yuuri’s ears, trembling and almost letting go of Yuuri entirely. Before he could regain composure, Yuuri kicked the man’s shins, hard enough to send him staggering backwards. JJ disappeared into the darkness. This time, however, it wasn’t nearly as terrifying. He couldn’t stay quiet. He continued to pant and cry out in pain, falling backwards with a crash against the floor.

Fumbling against the wall, panting for his own breath, Yuuri found the light switch. He switched it on, and the light was bathed once more in florescent light. Yuuri shielded his eyes, recovering from the initial onslaught. JJ hadn’t been so quick. Tending to his attacked shins and possibly broken foot, the lights blinded him.

Yuuri swerved on the balls of his feet. The dots at the corners of his vision were beginning to ebb away as his lungs comfortably drew breath, filling frantically.

He launched himself at JJ, sitting on his chest, pressing JJ’s hands above his head. When the younger man bucked, showing the energy he still had, Yuuri kneed him heavily in the ribs, knocking the breath from his core.

If he thought JJ had looked rabid before, it was nothing compared to this. JJ’s eyes were almost completely black, sensitive from the light exposure, unable to adapt. He was blinking the pain, finding it hard to concentrate on Yuuri himself. He was gritting his teeth together, almost baring them like a feral dog, shouting words that made no sense.

Pressing into Yuuri’s thigh was the pen, still embedded in JJ’s stomach. It was to the far right, almost having missed entirely, and the blood was already staining his expensive cotton shirt. It had stopped pooling, the blunt instrument blocking the flow.

The sight had him pausing for a second, eyes unable to look away from where his attack had pierced and torn muscle. He had always been taught self-defence – he wasn’t as naïve as to think that he’d never use them. Even if he hadn’t had the collar to protect, rich families were always a target for something. Learning self-defence was always something his parents had prioritised. But that didn’t mean he had been prepared for it. He knew he’d need to do things to protect himself, and he knew he was okay with that. But the sight of it made him feel a little sick.

JJ’s face was turning white. He was losing energy. Yuuri wondered if that was because he was thrashing too much, or if it was because of the wound Yuuri had given him. There wasn’t a lot of blood. It couldn’t have been that, right? Blood loss? But perhaps it was shock. If JJ was going into shock, that was dangerous too.

Just as his thoughts began to stir and descend into panic, the study door crashed open.

Finally, he thought. Finally the guards had come in. They took their time. JJ could have killed him by now. True, however, that they had had no sound to follow. It was only now that JJ was making enough sound for anyone to hear.

There were more footsteps than he expected. They came crashing in, taking what seemed like forever to reach him. When they did, familiar arms grabbed him and pulled him up. He almost didn’t want to allow them, thinking that JJ might get up and escape somehow. As he was pulled up, another figure descended onto JJ, and then another, and another until the man was pinned expertly to the ground.

Once he was sure that JJ had been compromised, he concentrated on the person holding him. Familiar hands. Familiar height. Familiar scent. And when he spoke, it was a familiar voice.

“Yuuri, are you okay?” He sounded panicked. His hands were roaming Yuuri’s body, trying to find any wounds.

Yuuri turned. The first thing he thought when he saw Viktor’s pretty face was that he hated to see it marred by worry. He cupped Viktor’s cheek, calming the man. “I’m okay,” he said, though his throat sounded a little raw. “It’s okay.” He smiled to assure him.

Viktor hugged him close. His hold was almost as tight as JJ’s press on his throat, and yet this felt much more comforting. Yuuri hugged back. Over Viktor’s shoulder, Yuuri saw Phichit. He was speaking with one of the maids. Yuuri rolled his eyes. Something that caught Yuuri’s attention though was Chris. He was rushing over to stand where the guards were swarming JJ.

Yuuri pulled back, placing his hands on either side of Viktor’s face. Everything he had gone through melted away immediately. All he could feel was relief at seeing Viktor, at knowing that the person who had stood between them was now being pulled up, cuffs being secured around his wrists. He was making an almighty crash, screaming and shouting. Yuuri wasn’t listening exactly, but he heard his own name and Viktor’s a few times. There were swears. The refinement and the terror he had held just a few minutes ago were gone.

Viktor didn’t watch him go. Instead, his eyes were only for Yuuri.

He must have seen the marks on Yuuri’s skin though. His gaze dropped to Yuuri’s neck and his hands caressed the skin. For just a moment, something dark crossed his eyes.

“What happened?” His voice was dropped, dangerous.

Yuuri didn’t want to talk about it. Not right now. Not like this. He decided to change the subject, “I’m very tired, Viktor. It’s late and I’ve been running on adrenaline for the last hour. I’ve run out of energy.”

As if saying it, it suddenly became more real than a subject change. He felt his limbs grow heavy. His eyes drooped. He was dangerously close to falling asleep and collapsing right there.

Somewhere, on the edge of his ability, coming out fizzy, he could hear his parents’ voices. His sister was there somewhere too. He wanted to turn and seek them out, but could barely do anything. He collapsed into Viktor’s arms.

Viktor smoothed a hand through his hair, using his whole body to hold Yuuri up, gently caressing the back of his head as he pressed his lips to Yuuri’s forehead.

“It’s okay, Yuuri,” he gently whispered, the harsh tone gone. “You’ve done amazingly. You did so well. You… You are perfect. Go to sleep. You deserve it.”

Yuuri could only smile as his heart raced in his chest. He managed to mumble, “Stay.”

Viktor’s laughter rumbled around them. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Pr’mise?”

“Promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... yes.... next chapter could very well be the last chapter... It might not be, since I'll need to see if I could fit it all into one, but if it is... I'll have a long sappy AN as you can probably already guess XD 
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter! It wasn't all meant to be a chase scene, but I just couldn't cut it down, it ruined all of the atmosphere if I did! And Yuuri deserved his bit to be bad ass XD 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> I have a tumblr   
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	27. Wherever We Want

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by slime whynikkywhy

“You can shout at me later. We shouldn’t wake Yuuri,” Viktor whispered into the silent room.

The doctor had finished checking over Yuuri after they had moved the man to his own bedroom. Happy that Yuuri didn’t have any permanent damage, Viktor helped Yuuri’s mother change his top, throwing away the one dirtied by JJ’s blood. Yuuri slept through it all, barely so much as twitching.

Mari stood beside the door, hands stuffed into her pockets, an air of concern and boiling rage filtering from her. They were the only ones in the room, the doctor speaking to Yuuri’s parents downstairs, Phichit and Chris telling their own side of what they had done or seen tonight, stretching the story as far as a few days ago. Viktor had told them to tell the detectives everything, even just to make sure JJ was incriminated.

Mari said nothing for a long while, her eyes raking over the exhausted form of her little brother. She took a step towards Viktor, each thump sending shivers up his spine. “Believe it or not, lover boy, but I’m not angry at you.”

“That makes a change.”

“Don’t push it.” Mari stood beside the bed, running her hand through Yuuri’s hair. “At least you felt guilty about what you did. You might have broken Yuuri’s heart, but you’re trying to mend it again. You didn’t try to kill him.”

There was spitting venom in Mari’s voice, and though it sounded strong, Viktor doubted it was anything close to what she was concealing inside herself. He had no doubt that if Mari and JJ were left in a room together, the younger man wouldn’t be making it out.

“Yuuri did well in defending himself,” Viktor commented. He didn’t know why, but the subject brought both pain and pride to him. He thought Yuuri’s plan had been reckless and stupid, but he couldn’t help but think how intelligent Yuuri had been too to lead JJ to a windowless room, into a maze of corridors, into the dark. He used the only weapon he had at hand, a pen, and had used it to the best of his ability.

“Of course, he did. He was taught self-defence just in case your kind came sniffing around.”

He had no doubt that he would be forever hearing the snide comments from Mari for as long he and Yuuri were together. Perhaps, with time, they would become less, but he knew he would be forever reminded of the mistakes he had made. On some level, he was annoyed. He had overcome those. He had corrected them. He had made Yuuri at least a little happy recently. But on another, he knew he needed the reminder. He needed to know who he was, what he had been before Yuuri, just to appreciate the magic Yuuri had given him.

“How did you know JJ was here?” Mari asked.

“Phichit found out Yuuri was baiting himself. We kept an eye on the house, but it wasn’t until Yuuri called me that we knew JJ had come.”

Mari was silent again. Viktor thought that it was going to be the end of the conversation before she turned to him and said, “Thanks. I’m sure our guards would have gotten a handle on the situation, but it’s reassuring to have someone who knows JJ being there.”

Viktor blinked at her, unsure if he had heard it right. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard right. Repeat that?”

For the first time, the woman seemed to smirk at him. “Fat chance. You won’t be hearing that again.”

“It was worth a shot.” He stroked his fingers across Yuuri’s cheek. The skin there was cold and dried out from his chase, a little paler than the red it had been when he had almost collapsed. Viktor felt more protective now than he had for a long time, a late response to knowing what JJ had been doing. The adrenaline was still coursing through him. He felt as though he should be defending Yuuri against a force that was no longer there.

“So, what happens now?” Mari asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve come out of hiding. JJ’s in custody, but that means you’re going to be arrested too, right? They can’t let you go.”

The fact that it was because Viktor had stolen thousands of things by now went unsaid. No doubt the families would be demanding something back, and they’d all want his arrest to atone when they found out he had already sold their things and they weren’t likely to ever get it back.

“I’ll just have to talk to them,” Viktor replied. He was sure that the only reason he hadn’t been arrested yet was because JJ wasn’t just a thief tonight, he was an attacker. He was higher priority than someone who just stole things. Not to mention, informant Phichit and deceiver Chris were distracting them with stories.

“Yuuri wouldn’t be able to take it if you were arrested. You’d be away for years. Yuuri isn’t the type to move on.”

The thought had Viktor’s heart wrenching. He didn’t want to think about that, but he had been forced to in the time he was hiding. If he didn’t do something, he would be spending the rest of his life hiding and risking secret rendezvous with Yuuri. Or, he would be meeting with Yuuri through bars and guarded meetings. That, or the final option would be to break it off and move far away.

He knew which one would be the best option, the safest option. If Viktor moved to somewhere where the rumours of his occupation hadn’t stretched, he’d be able to continue his job, and Yuuri could continue with life. But he didn’t want that. He’d be miserable, and he knew Yuuri would be too.

Even if it was secretly, or if it was through bars, Viktor wanted to see Yuuri’s face every day for the rest of his life.

“We’ll find out when the time comes,” he replied.

***

The walls were closing in. The darkness was creeping, crawling along the floor like dragging fingers. Someone was running through the halls. Yuuri could hear their stomping across the floorboards. The whole house creaked.

He knew he was alone. He could almost taste loneliness in the air – strange, he thought, that it was like that. Never before did he think he could taste it, or that loneliness had a taste at all, but alone here, he knew what it meant.

Footsteps everywhere, but he knew they belonged to no one. If he listened carefully over his own breathing, he could hear someone else breathing too. All around him. Behind him. To his side. Before him. He turned on the balls of his feet, searching it out, expecting to see the shadows in the forms of humans in the corner of his eyes. But there was no one.

At the end of the hall, one that looked like an inverted version of his own home, he saw a shape. It was facing away from him, but from this far, he knew it was Viktor. Standing oddly, hands behind his back, looking too airbrushed. He was just a bit faint, colour dulled. It was as if Yuuri was watching him through a reflection upon a dusty mirror. Imperfect.

Viktor moved as soon as Yuuri’s eyes landed on him. He turned down the right hallway, disappearing. Yuuri called after him, even knowing that everything about what was happening was wrong.

Running along the hall felt as though he was wading through thick mud. His legs didn’t want to chase. They were making it difficult.

He finally got to the corner, but it reached a dead end. Viktor was not there. Nothing but cold air.

He breathed heavily. Not because of the energy he had wasted, but because he could feel the walls closing in. They moved slowly, and as he looked at them they stayed still, but he could feel the pressure. He heard their creaks. He knew they were coming to crush.

Just as he was beginning to panic, he heard something in the distance. Subtle. Almost unintelligible.

But it felt like cold water had been poured on him. Freezing. Breath-taking. And real.

It felt like he was being pulled against his will, tugged from a dream that felt dark and scary. Everything went dark. The shadows moved in.

He blinked open his eyes and all he saw was white and bright lights. It was familiar. Over the sound of his own rushing blood, he could hear voices. He wanted to let them know he was here, that he was awake, but all he could muster was a squeak.

Next thing he knew, Viktor’s face was in vision and it felt as though everything was finally falling into place. He wanted to smile, and he thought he might have done it, though it felt strained. He felt both lighter and as though his limbs were weighed down by thousands of rocks.

“Hello, beautiful,” Viktor whispered, stroking gentle fingers across Yuuri’s cheek. It soothed Yuuri’s still racing heart. “Are you still tired? You look it. You can go back to sleep. I’ll still be here.”

He felt tired. His eyes were drooping. But now that he was awake, and now that he knew Viktor had kept his promise, he didn’t want to sleep at all. He desperately reached out to grab Viktor’s hand, clutching onto it as if it was his last lifeline.

“Hey, hey,” Viktor soothed, leaning in closer until his voice was just a whisper. “I’m here. I promised, didn’t I? I’m right here.”

Yuuri glanced around the room. Mari was stood at the end of his bed, foot turned toward the door, as if ready to run off when needed. He gave her a smile to assure her when he could catch his breath. “What happened?”

Viktor’s hold in his was more reassuring than he had expected it to be. To feel the soft skin, to almost hear the pulse racing against his wrist, it calmed his nerves until everything seemed to fall back into place.

“It’s okay, Yuuri,” Mari answered. “JJ’s been taken away by the police. He’s being questioned as we speak, though I doubt they won’t find enough evidence to incriminate him.”

“And what about his family?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing’s been heard from them. They’ve not come out since his capture. Do you think they’d’ve heard about it, Viktor?”

Viktor didn’t take his eyes from Yuuri’s face, but answered all the same. “I have no doubt they have. They’ll be keeping an eye on him since he rushed here.”

Yuuri remembered what Guang Hong had mentioned. Their family was just that – a family. Maybe not blood related, and perhaps it wasn’t the most stable family there was, but they protected one another. He knew something was going to happen – whether that was within the next few hours or years down the line.

He asked the one question he didn’t really want an answer to but knew he couldn’t avoid. “And what about you? What happens to you?” He wasn’t sure how long he had been sleeping, but he was sure they should have come to an answer in that time. But his gaze flickered between Viktor and Mari, and from their silence alone he knew they hadn’t. “The police realise that you’re not really a threat, right?”

“Yuuri, you’ve just woken up. Maybe this isn’t the right thing to stress about right now.”

“No!” He hadn’t meant to explode, but it suddenly came out of him like an unstoppable pressure. “Not talking about it won’t stop it. Saying nothing is what got us into this mess!” He knew he had hit Viktor with something that was obviously a sore spot for him, because Viktor seemed to almost wince at the comment. But he didn’t stop. He wouldn’t stop, because he wanted to make sure they had more than just a few hours left together. “I’ll talk to them. Maybe they can reduce your sentence. Or maybe we can strike a deal. There are ways.”

Viktor cupped his cheek. It was only then he realised he was crying, feeling the way Viktor’s fingers clung stickily to his skin. The older man said, “You’re right. We’ll figure something out. I’ll contact Yakov right now, okay? If anyone can do something, he can.”

Yuuri found himself nodding too much. “Okay.”

“He’s probably waiting for my call anyway,” Viktor tried to joke, though it fell flat. “I’ll be back in just a moment.” He took his phone from his pocket and left the room.

Barely a second after the door had closed, Yuuri turned to his sister. “Where is Phichit? I need to talk to him.”

***

Viktor spent the first ten minutes of his phone call with Yakov being yelled at.

_“I knew. I knew you were going to be with him. Viktor, I warned you! You knew this was going to blow up in your face. You knew stopping JJ wasn’t going to be the end of it. It’s never the end of it! You’ve brought the wolves to our door. Don’t think I won’t leave you behind.”_

Viktor knew he was lying. Yakov, more than anyone, thought that family was family and if one fell, they all fell together. But he was angry. Viktor had made a lot of problems not just for him, but for all of them. He knew that as he went into it. But he couldn’t give JJ the chance to do something to Yuuri. He’d forever regret it if he hadn’t run away.

But he knew Yakov was already thinking that. If anyone knew Viktor better than he knew himself, it was the older man.

After ten minutes, Yakov had managed to blow off all of his steam. The line fell quiet, Yakov almost all but panting on the other side.

“I’m sorry,” Viktor said first, surprising both of them. He had a whole speech ready, but it hadn’t started with that. But as he said it, it began to roll on his tongue with stronger power than he had expected it to. “I’m really sorry. I am. I know what I’ve done. But Yakov, you know I couldn’t just leave it. I took precautions.”

_“And those precautions included not speaking to the police at all?”_

Viktor paused, looking down at his feet as he shuffled. He felt like a child being reprimanded by his father. “No. Not exactly. But I had to. Yakov, JJ’s in custody now.”

“ _And you’re next.”_

“That’s what I want to talk about.”

_“Talk about what? You’re going to come here, and we’re going to go somewhere else. If we leave the country, they won’t be able to find us-”_

“I’m not going to leave the country.”

Yakov didn’t say anything for the longest moment before he sighed, clearly hearing the determination in Viktor’s voice. _“Right. Then we have to do something.”_

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. You still have your links, don’t you? People who owe you favours? I mean, the police can act all high and mighty, but they’ve hired you to steal things before.” That was one thing that always annoyed him. His family, and others as well, were always hunted for something that the police knew, that the police actively joined sometimes. Hell, even Viktor had been hired by one or two high-standing judges and commanders to steal something from an enemy, be it personal or country-wide.

He expected Yakov to fight back, but the man seemed to think it wasn’t worth it. _“I’ll look into it. But Viktor, that’s not going to work forever. Even if I get the police to get off your back, and you get to play house with Yuuri for years, it’ll come back. The people I blackmail aren’t going to be there forever. Someone else will take over, and they’ll look into your cases, of what you were, or the wanted posters, of the claims against you. This isn’t permanent.”_

That wasn’t something Viktor had thought about. “Okay. Thanks, Yakov. That’s actually useful.”

_“What do you mean ‘actually’-”_

Yakov was going to pissed again, but Viktor couldn’t find it in himself to care. He needed to speak to Yuuri. Together, they could figure something out.

As he walked the hallway back to Yuuri’s room, a group of three police officers walked by, still with their notebooks out as if they had just finished interviewing someone. He felt his chest tighten, his feet want to stop and turn the other way. He pushed on.

His whole body turned cold though as he found himself underneath their gazes. Their chatter stopped. Their gazes turned cold. They slowed their pace as they came closer, and for a moment Viktor wondered if this was going to be it, this was where his mistakes led. They had handcuffs hanging from their belts, and they swung with every step. Viktor found his glance flickering to it. He was sure they would hold him against the wall and arrest him there. They had little evidence. They didn’t know anything, not really. But it scared him to think it could happen.

He’d never been scared of being arrested before. He knew Yakov could protect him. Even if he couldn’t, Viktor knew that an arrest would only make the challenge harder. It was what he wanted, no matter how it came. But he couldn’t feel that way now. If he was arrested here, before he got to talk to Yuuri, leaving his lover to learn of his arrest through someone else’s mouth, he would regret it.

But they passed without doing anything but sending glares his way. They glanced over their shoulder, loudly talking about him, labelling him as _that thief_.

Of course, all of his previous jobs would be coming out of the woodwork now. They’d all claim that their stolen items had been taken by him. As the claims piled on, some fake, some real, some just confused, he would find himself in a position much like he thought he would be in today – arrested, meeting Yuuri through bars.

He needed to do something. There was only one thing he could think of doing, however, and that involved separating from Yuuri.

***

Yuuri felt heavy. There were several things that they could do, several things that Phichit had told him they could do, and only one thing that would be bearable.

“I can get the documents for you,” Phichit whispered, holding his hand. “It won’t take too long. I know people. I mean, of course I do. But you and Viktor have to hold out until then.”

Yuuri nodded. “Why are you so for this, though?” He turned to his sister. “And you. Why are you so okay with this? You know this means we might not see each other for a long time.”

“No offence, Yuuri, but I don’t want to deal with you brooding for years,” his sister replied, smirking. “And who says that this won’t give mum and dad opportunity to expand? I want a holiday from this town.”

“And I’ll get the opportunity to expand my network too. And we want you to be happy, Yuuri,” Phichit added. “It’s the best plan we have, and honestly, it’s not even that bad.”

Yuuri was more surprised that Phichit had thought of it so quickly. It was as if he had been thinking about it for a long time, and that gave Yuuri a warm feeling in his chest. He nodded. “Okay. I’ll speak to Viktor about it. We need to do it as soon as possible. I’m not comfortable with Viktor and the police being under the same roof right now. Who knows what they’ll even try.”

Mari nodded. “Investigator Cialdini seemed to have something against him – or thieves in general. It’s probably best we get into contact with your network as soon as we can.”

Phichit already had his phone out, hands flying as he started typing out a message.

It was at that moment that Viktor walked in. Yuuri stood from the bed, taking a step to meet Viktor. But something made him pause. Viktor’s expression was sullen, fallen, and his eyes couldn’t quite meet Yuuri’s. Fear laced through him, snapping apart the hope he had begun to harbour as his sister and best friend began to make plans.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, though he knew the answer would be no. Viktor didn’t get that sort of expression if everything was _okay._

Viktor licked his lips and nodded towards the door. “Can I speak to Yuuri alone? Please?”

Phichit didn’t need anything else said. With his eyes glued to the phone, he began to walk towards the door. Over his shoulder, he called, “I’ll let you know how it goes, Yuuri. I think I might be able to get the documents by tomorrow, or a little later.”

Mari was a little more reluctant, moving slowly, eyeing up Viktor as if she was unsure if she wanted to let them be alone in a room together – despite everything, despite how much he had already done for Yuuri that was good. But she did leave, after a glance over her shoulder. The door clicked behind her.

“Documents?” Viktor asked, slowly coming to sit on the bed beside Yuuri, urging the younger man to do the same.

Yuuri waved his hand, thinking it was easier to talk about later. Whatever Viktor wanted to talk about, it took priority. “What’s wrong? You look… Did the police do something?”

“Uh, no,” Viktor began.

“I really don’t like that they’re here, under the same roof as you.” He was always scared that they were going to turn around after interviewing their staff and decide that arresting JJ wasn’t going to be enough. They had more than enough reason to target Viktor, and the only reason they hadn’t yet was because an attack was a higher criminal offence than theft. “Maybe until we can get out, we should stay at a hotel somewhere. Somewhere only my family and your family knows-”

Viktor took hold of his hands, stopping him as he spoke. It was a gentle touch, careful, as if what he was going to say was going to shatter Yuuri into a thousand pieces and he wanted to soften that blow.

“Yuuri, I’ve been thinking. Of that, and a lot of things, and how things are going to work.”

Yuuri found himself unable to argue, because he knew where this was going. It lodged his words in his throat, and for some reason, this seemed to escalate until the pain was almost as severe as when he saw Viktor that night, with JJ and the collar in his hands.

“Maybe,” Viktor began, voice almost a whisper, his eyes glued to Yuuri’s lips as if he couldn’t meet his gaze. “Maybe this is just how it goes. Maybe this was how it was going to go all along.”

“What do you mean?”

“What can we do?” he asked. “I’ve got Yakov making contacts, but even he can’t do the impossible. Maybe the police would leave me alone for a short time, but there will always be someone here trying to get to me. There will always be a threat. It might come tomorrow, or it might come in years. But we’ll be forced to look over our shoulders at every moment of our life and I don’t want you to live like that.”

Yuuri cupped Viktor’s hands in his own, refusing to say anything until Viktor met his gaze. His chest was tight with pain, and his blood was buzzing through his head. “Viktor, tell me something,” he insisted, voice stronger than he expected it to be. “Do you love me?”

“More than anything.”

Yuuri’s pain was eased by how quickly the man answered, how sure he sounded. He breathed carefully out of pursed lips and said, “Then, this isn’t you saying we should separate because you don’t want this anymore?”

Viktor blinked. As the words settled in, his eyes shot open and he jumped forward. “No! If I had the choice, I wouldn’t want to be apart from you at all!”

The words pulled a smile from Yuuri’s lips. “That’s how I feel too.”

“But what can we do, Yuuri?” Viktor asked again.

Now Yuuri understood what the expression on his face meant. Viktor thought there was only one way out, and that was to separate and leave their relationship at that. Leave Yuuri here while he ran away somewhere with his family that no one knew who they were. Rewrite their lives, kept apart from what they had been here. A whole new blank slate.

So why couldn’t they do that together?

“About those documents that Phichit was talking about,” Yuuri began, unable to stop the smile on his lips from pulling tighter. “How do you feel about starting again?”

Viktor asked, “Starting again?”

“Yes. Starting again. Somewhere far away from this. Somewhere where no one knows our names. Somewhere the police here can’t touch.”

“But Yuuri, you live here. Your life is here. Your family are here.”

So Viktor had given this some thought. But he thought there were things that pulled him back. Yuuri leaned forwards. He cupped Viktor with his hands, holding his face as gently as he could, as if he held the stars.

“My family want to expand. This would give them the perfect opportunity. Dad has just about made deals with every business person here, and the ones he hasn’t made deals with are the police he doesn’t like. Mum wants to open a restaurant, and a place far away from here would be great for her to do it in. Phichit wants to come with us to expand his network.”

“What about friends?”

“I only have Phichit and Yuuko. Maybe Yuuko could come with us. Or if she doesn’t, I can always keep in contact with her. Beside that, there are only the rich here. You know how much I’ve hated them. Every party is an excuse to gossip, and lately that’s all directed at me. Viktor, it’s only you and my family that could keep me anywhere. They want to expand, and you want to get away from here. That’s perfect. Don’t you think?”

Viktor turned his head, pressing a kiss to Yuuri’s palm as he thought about it. “The documents?”

“Things that Phichit needs to gather to get us there undetected.”

“There?”

“Anywhere we want.”

“Anywhere we want.”

Yuuri could see the moment it began to dawn on Viktor. The hopeless look had been replaced, eyes beginning to glitter with promise. He pressed another kiss to Yuuri’s palm, this one a little more pressing, as if overcome with energy.

“You think it could work?” he asked.

“No one will know us. Even if word spreads and the town figure out who we are, we can always move. Phichit will keep an eye out. And Chris too, if he wants to come of course.”

Viktor cracked a smile then. “I’m sure Chris will come wherever we’re going. He’s grown quite fond of you.”

Yuuri’s cheeks flushed red. “He’s a good man. You’ve picked a good best friend.”

“And so have you.”

Yuuri leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Viktor’s cheek. “Until then, I can ask Phichit about places to stay, or you can ask Chris, and we can wait until the documents come through. We can talk about it all with my family and you can talk to yours. It’ll be quick. It’ll probably be messy for the first few months. But it’ll be something. And it’ll be better than this.”

Viktor seemed hungrier for something more than a peck to the cheek. He ran his hands through Yuuri’s hair, bringing the younger man in for a passionate kiss, all of his emotions pressed into it. As he pulled back, he kept their foreheads together, breathing heavy between them.

“Both of us? Wherever we want?”

Yuuri grinned back. “Wherever we want.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, to be fair, the ending here could be the ending to the whole thing 
> 
> However, there are quite a few things that I would rather not leave open-ended so yes.... there will be ONE more chapter, but only one this time XD The next one is for sure the last chapter. I wanted to try and squeeze it into this one, but yes, real life and all my jobs have been pretty demanding >.< So this chapter will be split into two parts with the next one as the last one! 
> 
> Look forward to next week, where there will be a conclusion. 
> 
> I have a tumblr   
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


	28. I Love You, Too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by whynikkiwhy. A huge thank you for doing it for me, and for doing such a fantastic job.

The weather was different. It was hotter here, as if the warmth was being swept over the ocean waves to crash into their shores. The air was always humid. In the peak of summer, as it was, it was difficult to walk to the market without breaking a sweat and needing a good cold shower afterwards.

But Yuuri didn’t mind. He was built for weather like this. It warmed his skin, it kept his hair thick, and it meant he had an excuse to wear some of his favourite clothes – and all of those were not forgiving in the cold. He loved to wake in the morning and see the sun high in the sky, feel its rays against his skin in a way he hadn’t known before.

Viktor was not coping as well. Had it been up to him, he would wander their home naked, fans whirring in every corner of the property, and have the sun exploded. Sometimes he still did the first, if Yuuri and he were home alone. However, there was a problem – much of their modern home was made of glass, and though they were at the end of the lane with a considerable distance between themselves and their neighbours, they were still close to the beach. If anyone looked slightly up the hill, Viktor would have been seen. So, instead, he’d lay panting on their cold wooden floor, dressed in very little, moaning about the weather.

“Not a fan?” Yuuri had asked once.

Viktor had looked at him with an expression caught between obvious distain and sarcasm. “I love the heat.”

But slowly Viktor had gotten used to it. He started venturing out. He started coming to the market with Yuuri so that they could get something to eat. They’d walk the beach in the evening. They’d helped Yuuri’s parents begin to set up a restaurant and a hot spring in the town. It gathered a lot of attention, bringing something new and exotic to the otherwise traditional town and almost seemed frozen in time.

The perfect place.

There weren’t any rich families to pass rumours around. Even if there was anything worthy enough for rumours in his previous town, they were passed off as nothing important here. It was quiet. It was down-to-earth. It was real.

Yuuri loved it from the moment he stepped into it.

Even Viktor’s family had moved into the same town. It wasn’t quite as exciting and fast-paced as they were used to, and Chris had already told Viktor that there wasn’t anyone ‘drool-worthy’ enough for him to be found yet, but that was as far as the complaints got. Yuuri knew on some level, every single one of them loved some aspect of it.

Especially little grumpy Yuri, who had found out there was an excess of cats upon the town. Barely a day passed that less than five cats were seen, each one as friendly as the last, contented with bellies full of fresh fish.

Viktor had stopped his job. They hadn’t talked about it much until the first month of their living there had been and gone. When Yuuri learned that Viktor’s families were continuing their jobs a few towns over, he noticed that Viktor hadn’t made a step to becoming what he was.

Secretly, Yuuri was glad for it. He didn’t want to voice it, because he knew how important it was to Viktor and it was what connected him to his family, but he hated what Viktor was. He hated the idea of stealing just for the thrill of it, taking something that was important to one person because it was worth a lot. Yuuri hated that that was how they had met, but it was how it was. He hated it, but it was a part of Viktor.

When he noticed that Viktor hadn’t attempted to return to it, while his family was setting up their own games again, he asked him.

It took Viktor a long time to answer. In that time, he cupped Yuuri’s face gently. “I don’t need it,” he whispered so close to Yuuri’s lips. “I grew tired of that life. The thrill – and yes, it had been thrilling once – wasn’t there anymore. I was getting bored of it before I met you, and you were the spark I found. I was always meant to find you. Why would I ever need to steal again, when you’re everything I’ve been looking for?”

It sounded cheesy, but Yuuri could hear every single bit of truth in his words. It made his heart stutter in his chest, his lips pull into a smile. He pressed a kiss to Viktor’s lips, overcome by emotion.

They hadn’t talked about it before then. As they moved, he thought they would. He hated Viktor’s jobs, but he was willing to overlook a few things, applying some small restrictions, if it was something Viktor loved to do and refused to give up.

But he couldn’t express how happy he was to hear Viktor say that. Above all, he was happy to know he hadn’t been the one to stop it. If he had been the one to force Viktor to stop his love, then the guilt would have been at the back of his mind for the rest of their lives.

But this was how it worked. This was how they begun their new life.

Yuuri could not be happier.

***

Viktor didn’t find it odd that he stopped being a thief. He didn’t feel as if a part of him had been ripped out. He didn’t feel like he had too much spare time.

Everything that being a thief had left, Yuuri filled. That and more. Yuuri was everything he had ever wanted, something he had been looking for when he wasn’t even sure he was looking for anything at all. From the very moment he had seen Yuuri in Mr Katsuki’s study, he had been captured. If he was honest, from that moment, the job hadn’t meant anything. He used it as an excuse to stay where he was and build a relationship with Yuuri.

Now they were here, living together, in a town where they didn’t have to hide, and he didn’t need that excuse anymore.

In fact, he didn’t need any excuse. This was his reality, and he was grateful for every minute of it. He knew it could have gone differently, and not only that, he had almost been expecting it to. It was nice to know Yuuri had wanted to fight for this as much as he had.

His family continued what they were. He knew Yuuri didn’t like that – they didn’t talk about it, at least not much until Yuri walked into their home wearing designer clothing that clearly hadn’t been bought, or Georgi’s love of their art work and knowing exactly how he had acquired that knowledge. They didn’t talk about the bank that had been broken into in the middle of the night just a few towns down, or the fact that Mila had been unable to attend their housewarming party at the time of the bank robbery. They definitely didn’t talk about the meetings Yakov proposed that Viktor still had to attend from time to time.

Sometimes their conversations came close. One day, perhaps when they were settled enough, they would talk about it all just for the sake of talking. It wouldn’t change anything, but it would be out there for them to know. But that was far off in the distance.

They were too busy concentrating on their home and how to make it their lives.

Makkachin loved the ocean. She ran along the beach every morning, chasing the seagulls that settled on the mossy rocks, greeting the fishermen as they came in at low tide from a morning haul. She freely ran along the market as they shopped, making friends with every other dog and person she could find.

The town had almost adopted her immediately, as soon as they moved in. The children played with her, the stall owners sometimes fed her their unsold produce at the end of the day. And there were other dogs for her to socialise with.

That was something Viktor couldn’t get over – Makkachin, his beloved dog, had gone from apartment bound and waiting for him as he worked, to the happiest pup he had seen since he got her, able to run around in the open without a care in the world.

He couldn’t get the thought out of his head as he reached for her lead. Usually, they didn’t need it, but there were a few busy roads he wanted to protect her from.

“You’re well behaved though, aren’t you?” he cooed at her as he clipped it onto her collar. “Never stray too far away from me unless I say you can, do you? You’re so smart.”

Makkachin lolled her tongue in response.

“Excited to see Yuuri?” he asked. Makka almost seemed to nod in response, though Viktor knew it was her way of trying to pull him towards the door more likely. He accepted and opened it, feeling the wave of heat rolling in. He always forgot how hot it could get, especially as their new house had some of the best air conditioning anyone could get. He gritted his teeth against it and walked out.

Yuuri had been meeting with his parents that morning, striking up new business deals about how their restaurant and spa were going to be run in this new town. Yuuri was eager to hire local help, as the Katsuki parents would be spread thin between their original home and this brand new town. Yuuri would run it. Sometimes, even Mari could come to help.

There was even a spare room in their new home ready for her. Or Phichit. Or Chris.

Basically, they were expecting visitors a lot. Viktor both looked forward to it and dreaded it. There would be no such thing as a quiet life with Yuuri, not with both of their families.

He greeted the town folk as he walked their streets, feeling both like a part of them and still a little bit like an outsider. It would ease, he knew. It eased with each passing day, hearing his name on the lips of those now growing familiar. How they managed to walk around in this heat, he would never understand. Honestly, he didn’t understand how Yuuri managed.

“Good morning, Viktor!” the fruit stall owner greeted, leaning over her barrier to wave.

“Good morning,” Viktor greeted back. As his name was called, a few other locals turned to greet him, treating him as if he had lived there with them for years, had gone to every one of their occasions, as if they shared secrets. As if they were the best of friends.

And in front of them, he didn’t have to hide anything.

“On your way to the bath house?” someone asked.

“Yes,” Viktor replied, spinning his head to try and see who it was that had asked.

“Give him our morning greeting,” someone else said, coming from the other side of the market.

Viktor turned that way, though couldn’t see who it might have come from. “I will. We’ll be walking this way again. You can tell him yourself.”

“Lovely boy, that one,” someone else said, voice old and croaked. “Very caring. Very special.”

Viktor could agree with a nod and a smile. “Incredibly special. One of the best people I’ve ever met.” One of the best people he could ever meet, or come to know. One of the best people he could call his hero.

“Such a sweet couple,” someone cooed.

The crowd hummed in agreement.

Viktor soon found himself at the front of the bath house, faced with the welcoming signs. He walked up its steps, as he had done a hundred times since they had bought it. He could hear Yuuri’s voice filtering out before he had even ascended the steps completely.

“…go there, and the lamp should be opposite. This area isn’t very well lit so we need to paint some of it white. Could we even break through the wall a little and get a window in?”

“It’s a little late for that, Yuuri,” came Mari’s voice. “Development has finished.”

Before he even entered the room, Viktor knew exactly what Yuuri’s expression would be – he’d have his lip pouting, eyes glancing around in an attempt to think more about it, gaze narrowed. He’d have a hand on his hip, the other pressing the back of his neck, contemplating.

He was right. Yuuri didn’t quite want to take it as an answer, even as he faced the corner that he had been talking about.

Mari noticed Viktor first. She nodded to him and called, “Princess, lover boy is here.”

Yuuri seemed about ready to argue with Mari over the choice in nickname before his gaze met Viktor’s. His expression lit up into a smile, cheeks blushing already, and he walked quickly to shorten the distance between them.

He crashed into Viktor’s arms. Viktor hugged him close, burying his face in Yuuri’s hair. He felt a weight on his right as Makkachin stood up on her hind legs to attempt to join in. He chuckled into Yuuri’s hairline, hugging him closer.

“What are you doing here?” Yuuri’s voice muffled against Viktor’s clothes.

“Came to pick you up. Makkachin needed a walk as well.” He leaned back, admiring Yuuri’s beautiful features before he leaned in for a quick kiss.

He heard Mari groan beside them, and her hurried footsteps retreated to another part of the bath house. Viktor appreciated it, he really did, and he knew she didn’t dislike it as much as she showed. She liked Yuuri being happy. But he did love to tease her. She knew it well.

Yuuri grinned up at him, still clutching onto him tightly. “I shouldn’t be too long now. We’re talking to the builders about what to do with the west wing of the building. Mum has her restaurant, but she’s thinking of even adding a small B and B to the whole thing.”

“Wow,” Viktor replied, running his hand through Yuuri’s thick hair. “She’s going all out, huh?”

Yuuri nodded. “When we’re done talking to them, want to grab breakfast somewhere along the market? I’m feeling like getting that sushi they sell there. You know, the stall by the ceramic stall.”

“I know the one. I think that’s a great idea.”

“Good,” Yuuri said, clapping a hand on Viktor’s shoulder. There was a pause, and Yuuri’s expression changed. Viktor watched it in suspicion, because he knew what this meant. Yuuri’s gaze turning the other way, his chewing of his lip, his nose twitch – it all meant he was about to say something Viktor might not like; or perhaps not such a strong reaction, but something shocking. “Good,” he repeated. “Because mum and dad are coming down today and they might be staying with us tonight so they can finish with the development and mum wants you to walk her around the market while I’m making deals with dad.”

The whole sentence stumbled out in one mess of a breath, as if Yuuri was trying to lessen the blow in one go.

Viktor blinked. He repeated it in his head, slowly.

As he had been saying, they were expecting quite a few visitors.

“Sounds fun.”

“Mari’s staying with us too.”

Viktor nodded. “Okay.”

“For a week.”

“Anything else?”

“I love you?”

“I mean something I don’t know. I love you too, though.”

“Um, Phichit is coming down then after them? Oh, and Chris has already begged me to tell you that he’s staying soon too. He says he wants you to treat him like a prince while he’s here.”

Viktor pulled Yuuri closer again, distracting the stress that was already rising. “So, we don’t have the house to ourselves for a long time?”

“Sounds like it,” Yuuri chuckled.

***

Whatever life was like outside of their little town, or whatever life was like in the town they had come from, they didn’t know. The few people that did know didn’t tell them, and they didn’t ask.

The police might have still been searching, or perhaps they had given up. Maybe the rich still talked about them, or maybe they had found something new to talk about.

There was only one thing they knew about.

Phichit had sat them down a few months into their new life and told them about something that they had almost expected.

“It happened last night,” he told them, hands gripping his phone as if it was his only lifeline. “Someone broke into the prison.”

He took his time saying it, but it was already something that Viktor and Yuuri knew. They hadn’t voiced it, but they knew it was coming.

“We’re trying to get intel on who it is,” Phichit continued, nodding his head to where Chris was still scrolling through his own phone, chimes ringing as each message came in. His brows were furrowed, concentration ebbing from his features. “Strange, though, that most of the security footage has been removed and witnesses don’t seem to remember anything at all.”

“So, what exactly are you saying?” Yuuri asked, knowing what was coming. He wanted to confirm it. He wanted to hear it properly. He wanted to know that this wasn’t going to affect what they had made now.

Phichit paused again. “Well, it means JJ’s been broken out.”

“Last night.”

“Last night, yes. We suspect his family did it, though we have no proof. People have been bought off, and there haven’t been any sign where he went.”

Yes, they had expected it. Viktor had even joked about it.

“And is there a chance he’ll find us?” Viktor asked. He could feel the protectiveness beginning to grow underneath his skin, ebbing out in a way it hadn’t in months. He might have given up his thieving past, but he had kept some of the treasures from his past life – his weapons were some of them, hidden and dotted around their house. His fingers were itching to reach for one.

“I…I wouldn’t think so,” Phichit replied. “We’ve made sure that no one can trace you here. We check to make sure anyone is following as we travel here. We’re steady with our plans. Even if he had ill intention, I doubt that he’d be able to find you.”

Yuuri’s cheek twitched, reminders of what had happened the last time he was face to face with the younger thief. He could still feel the pen in his hands, the way it had come close to his stomach as it embedded itself into JJ’s. He could still feel the trembling in his hands. He could smell the copper in the air.

“We’ll keep an eye out,” Chris assured him, glancing up from his phone. “But there have been whispers. The Leroy family have moved out of town. I don’t know where. I don’t know how far or for how long, but they’re not there anymore. We’ll keep an eye out, but I’m not sure anything will come of it.”

“What do you mean?” Yuuri asked.

But Viktor knew where this was going to go too. JJ’s family had never been like him – they didn’t enjoy the wars he raged, the enemies he made. They would not likely chase him or Yuuri. If Viktor could bet anything, then he would likely bet money on the fact that JJ’s family had broken him out only to keep a tight leash on him.

“I think the worst has passed,” Viktor replied in place of Chris. “JJ’s family are going to make getting away from the police a priority.”

“We’ll keep watching out for you,” Phichit promised. “But I don’t think you’ll need it.”

Months later, and it proved to be true. Any word of JJ’s breakout had fizzled out into nothing. Even the rumours of his escape had faded away before they could reach their new home. JJ almost seemed to disappear into nothing, as if his being hadn’t existed at all, leaving not even the ghost of a forgotten memory.

It wasn’t until a few months later, however, that both Viktor and Yuuri began to feel at ease. When there hadn’t been anything from Phichit or Chris, when there hadn’t even been a whisper of his name, when there came nothing at all. His family’s name, once great, was gone.

Perhaps they had left their thief life. Perhaps they had moved their business onto other things. Perhaps they had just disappeared all-together.

Whatever it was, Viktor and Yuuri made the most of their time together.

The Katsuki bath house and restaurant opened for business completely, every inch of the development finished, though the Katsuki name couldn’t be used for obvious reasons. Yuuri’s mother got her wish, and his father took the grand opening as a sign that he should lean back and allow Mari and Yuuri to take some of the reigns. After years of being worked off  his feet, he spent many of his days walking along the beach and taking Yuuri’s mother through the markets.

Viktor had even been invited to work the restaurant along side Yuuri’s mother, an invitation he surprisingly accepted.

“It looks good,” Yuuri complimented as Viktor stood before him for the first time wearing the dotted apron his mother had insisted the staff wear.

Yuuko, who had been promoted from house staff to helping Yuuri’s mother around the restaurant and the small B and B attached, had loved the style choice. She proudly showed it off to Yuuri.

Viktor looked less impressed. “Really?”

“What about it do you not like?” Yuuri asked.

Viktor glanced down at it, stroking his hands along the edges. “How about the fact that mine has frills on it?”

“It makes it pretty for the customers.”

“None of the other waiters have it.”

Yuuri glanced to where Yuuko was still twirling, captivated by how her own apron lifted with the air. He glanced to the other waiters, some faces only just growing familiar. He turned back to Viktor. “They’re only jealous.”

Viktor raised an eyebrow. “Your mother still hasn’t _quite_ forgiven me, huh?”

“For what?”

“Everything.”

Yuuri couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his lips. “She might still be holding a little bit of a grudge.”

“And this is how she gets back at me?”

Yuuri took hold of the apron, admiring how thick the frill seam was. There would be no doubt that the customers would notice. There would be a few questions, perhaps a few joking comments sent Viktor’s way. It wouldn’t be cruel, but it would rise quite the blush along Viktor’s cheeks.

Yuuri liked how his mother decided revenge should be taken. Though she was seen as a small, cute, bubbly woman to many who didn’t know her, even to people who did, she was far more than that. She didn’t get as far as she had in business being the oblivious, naïve woman that many saw her as.

“You’re going to be late if you don’t get going, and that’ll give mum more reason to do things like this,” Yuuri laughed. He hugged Viktor’s middle, drawing the taller man close. “I promise it won’t be any more than this. If my family do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, let me know, okay?”

Viktor pulled back, smiling down at him. “Yuuri, if I couldn’t handle this light teasing from your family, I had no right to continue to chase you when I was what I was.”

“So, it’s fine?”

“As long as you’re fine with it too.”

They were living together, here, away from their problems, having overcome it all. How could he not be fine with it? “Better than fine. I love every single day. I’ve loved the ones we passed, love the ones we go through, and will love every one that comes. As long as you’re here with me.”

Viktor could barely say anything back. He could only reply with a kiss. When he pulled away again, he finally found the words he felt that held everything he ever thought. “I’ll always be with you.”

Yuuri wanted to say it back, but he saw the way his mother was peering around the corner of the bar. “Mum’s started to look a bit agitated. You need to get to work.”

Viktor sighed, tying the apron a little tighter around his waist. “See you at home when I’m done?”

“I’ll have dinner ready.”

Before Viktor ran off, he cupped Yuuri’s cheeks and pressed another lingering kiss to Yuuri’s lips. “Every day that I get to come home to you makes every moment I struggled worth it.”

The words clenched his heart. Yuuri smiled. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have no idea how close I came to making the last line a cheesy one about stealing hearts and all that, but decided that the cheese was enough in this... I'll leave it at an ending that's cute instead ^^ 
> 
> And here we go. Here is how the story ends. Some aspects have open-ended lines, such as what happened to JJ, but as those aspects don't have a further place in this story, I thought I wouldn't spell them out so it becomes less realistic. I hope you enjoyed it! I've loved every minute of writing this. 
> 
> Thank you so much for all of the support. I'm honestly so surprised with every story I write how many people love them, or the fact that just a few years ago I was so insecure about my writing, but all of you seem to love how I write. It means the world to me. I can't even express just how much confidence it's helped me gain. Thank you all so much, and I wish there were more ways I could express my gratitude, for everything! 
> 
> Which then leads me to something else. I have somewhat something of an announcement to make. It's a little long winded and there's a structure to it I need to keep to, so I'll be putting it on my tumblr when I can (it might be within a few hours or perhaps a day or two, but once I've finished, I might put a link here in this AN too or into the comments if anyone is interested).   
> The way I've said it makes it sound like I'm going to stop writing. That's not it at all. Quite the opposite, do not worry. But it's something I would have never considered doing if it wasn't for this site, for people commenting, for all of the words and time you've given me and I can't thank you ever enough for it. Nice, thankful and constructive comments have given me so much more than I feel I am able to ever give back.   
> Thank you! 
> 
> Looking forward to whatever project might come next! 
> 
> If you're interested, my tumblr is   
> [here](https://lanaberryrawr.tumblr.com/)


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